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Friday, December 5, 2014
December 2014 ARS Spartan Sprint - Soapbox
W5ACM
The December Spartan Sprint was so much better than November! I got three contacts on 20M, three on 80M and six more on 40M. Band conditions were a lot better this month and the noise level on 40M was very low. I had some serious problems with the contacts on my homebrew paddle. I had to stop and clean them twice. Thanks to those of you that were patient with my operations! The batteries are a bit “puffy” but will likely be OK for a few more months.
K3RLL
As usual after a big DX contest, I think most of us were radioed-out so turnout may have been a little light tonight. However, many thanks to those with whom I had the pleasure of contacting and my sincere appreciation especially to K4ARQ and N3VKM for sticking with me to make valid contacts.
WA5RML
Elecraft KX3 @5 wts to G5RV antenna; Vibroplex Square Racer Deluxe.Enjoyable event. Ten (10) QSOs - including N5GW (Gene) twice (80 & 40). Happy Holidays to all!
NØTA
Pretty slow evening in Colorado. Thanks for the Q's. Used a KD1JV Tri-Bander, Z-match tuner, & doublet.
N5GW
KX3 with internal bats and ATU to CFZ. I was pleased to find activity on 20M this late in the year, and was able to work ten sprinters there. 40M was in fair shape, but not much activity heard on 80M.
K3GW
From Pennsylvania, used my MTR 2 on 20 mtrs. single band. Tuned dipole at 28 feet. Whiterook paddle and 370 mah lipo. Band sounded ok. Got 8 contacts. 3 California, 3 Texas, and 1 Idaho and 1 Colorado. K6CSL was my last contact at 0248Z. Missed Don, K3RLL, in Florida. Not sure if he was on or not. Will try again in January. Had Fun. Thanks for the contacts all.
W1PID
Running an ATS-4 at 5 watts to an OCF dipole. Slim pickings. Best DX was Randy K7TQ. 4 Qs on 20 meters and 3 on 40. Thanks for the fun.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters, an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 m, and near bottom-loaded, ground mounted vertical for 80 m. 6 QSOs on 20, 8 on 40, and 3 on 80. Almost had W5ACM on 20 but I couldn't hear his exchange - hopefully, next month. W3KC was strong on 40. Two-banders with AB9CA, WB5BKL, and NØTA on 20 and 40 and with W3KC on 40 and 80. Overall, signals weren't all that strong here in Albany but they were pretty consistent with little QSB. Happy holidays! Hope to see you all in 2015.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to various delta loops and wire antennas. Missed last month due to family obligations. Most of the QSOs were on 20 this month. Tried 15M with no success. No three-banders this time but several doubles. Worked 13 states. Nice to hear some new calls. My thanks to all. Had fun.
NØFN
What fun and challenge tonight on 40 meters. At first I couldn't find anyone calling CQ SP, just pile-ups and QSOs from 7.025 to 7.050. My first sprint contact was AB9CA and I worked 10 more sprinters after that between 7.041 and 7.044, even calling CQ for a while. I burnt up my supply of NiMH AAs with a short circuit in an Arduino project, so my 1.25 lb rig played with a 4.5 lb battery tonight. Thanks to all for the slow fills and repeats, especially WA5RML.
K7TQ
A good evening here in ID. Went the entire time for a change. First hour was 20 Qs with second one 10 Qs. Both bands by NK6A, W5ACM, WB5BKL, NØTA, N5GW, and K6CSL. Tough time on 20 with W1PID, but we made it. Catch you all next year.
AB9CA
K2 at 5w, 100' wire up 60 ft. Have re-arranged one end of this wire and raised it 30 ft or so. Not sure what effect that has, if any. Have been busy and missed last couple of sprints. Good to be back tonight. Condx seems OK. Not really good, but not bad either. Band breakdown for 20/40/80 was 5/18/5. Know I missed one on 20. Just could not pull you out. 40 was pretty productive. From NY to CA and FL to MN. The noise on 80 was not too bad. Worked NC, TX, MS, and MD there. Heard only those few. Dunno if others did not go there or if prop was not good. Those pesky Texans were out in force tonight, total of 7 out of the 28 Q's were TX. No 3-banders but had 2-banders with NØTA, NQ2W, W1PID, NK6A, W5ACM, N5GW, WJ4A, WB5BKL and W3KC. Thanks to everyone who dropped by. Hope to hear all of you (plus more) next month.
W3KC
Always fun. This time most contacts were on 40 and a few on 80.
The December Spartan Sprint was so much better than November! I got three contacts on 20M, three on 80M and six more on 40M. Band conditions were a lot better this month and the noise level on 40M was very low. I had some serious problems with the contacts on my homebrew paddle. I had to stop and clean them twice. Thanks to those of you that were patient with my operations! The batteries are a bit “puffy” but will likely be OK for a few more months.
K3RLL
As usual after a big DX contest, I think most of us were radioed-out so turnout may have been a little light tonight. However, many thanks to those with whom I had the pleasure of contacting and my sincere appreciation especially to K4ARQ and N3VKM for sticking with me to make valid contacts.
WA5RML
Elecraft KX3 @5 wts to G5RV antenna; Vibroplex Square Racer Deluxe.Enjoyable event. Ten (10) QSOs - including N5GW (Gene) twice (80 & 40). Happy Holidays to all!
NØTA
Pretty slow evening in Colorado. Thanks for the Q's. Used a KD1JV Tri-Bander, Z-match tuner, & doublet.
N5GW
KX3 with internal bats and ATU to CFZ. I was pleased to find activity on 20M this late in the year, and was able to work ten sprinters there. 40M was in fair shape, but not much activity heard on 80M.
K3GW
From Pennsylvania, used my MTR 2 on 20 mtrs. single band. Tuned dipole at 28 feet. Whiterook paddle and 370 mah lipo. Band sounded ok. Got 8 contacts. 3 California, 3 Texas, and 1 Idaho and 1 Colorado. K6CSL was my last contact at 0248Z. Missed Don, K3RLL, in Florida. Not sure if he was on or not. Will try again in January. Had Fun. Thanks for the contacts all.
W1PID
Running an ATS-4 at 5 watts to an OCF dipole. Slim pickings. Best DX was Randy K7TQ. 4 Qs on 20 meters and 3 on 40. Thanks for the fun.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters, an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 m, and near bottom-loaded, ground mounted vertical for 80 m. 6 QSOs on 20, 8 on 40, and 3 on 80. Almost had W5ACM on 20 but I couldn't hear his exchange - hopefully, next month. W3KC was strong on 40. Two-banders with AB9CA, WB5BKL, and NØTA on 20 and 40 and with W3KC on 40 and 80. Overall, signals weren't all that strong here in Albany but they were pretty consistent with little QSB. Happy holidays! Hope to see you all in 2015.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to various delta loops and wire antennas. Missed last month due to family obligations. Most of the QSOs were on 20 this month. Tried 15M with no success. No three-banders this time but several doubles. Worked 13 states. Nice to hear some new calls. My thanks to all. Had fun.
NØFN
What fun and challenge tonight on 40 meters. At first I couldn't find anyone calling CQ SP, just pile-ups and QSOs from 7.025 to 7.050. My first sprint contact was AB9CA and I worked 10 more sprinters after that between 7.041 and 7.044, even calling CQ for a while. I burnt up my supply of NiMH AAs with a short circuit in an Arduino project, so my 1.25 lb rig played with a 4.5 lb battery tonight. Thanks to all for the slow fills and repeats, especially WA5RML.
K7TQ
A good evening here in ID. Went the entire time for a change. First hour was 20 Qs with second one 10 Qs. Both bands by NK6A, W5ACM, WB5BKL, NØTA, N5GW, and K6CSL. Tough time on 20 with W1PID, but we made it. Catch you all next year.
AB9CA
K2 at 5w, 100' wire up 60 ft. Have re-arranged one end of this wire and raised it 30 ft or so. Not sure what effect that has, if any. Have been busy and missed last couple of sprints. Good to be back tonight. Condx seems OK. Not really good, but not bad either. Band breakdown for 20/40/80 was 5/18/5. Know I missed one on 20. Just could not pull you out. 40 was pretty productive. From NY to CA and FL to MN. The noise on 80 was not too bad. Worked NC, TX, MS, and MD there. Heard only those few. Dunno if others did not go there or if prop was not good. Those pesky Texans were out in force tonight, total of 7 out of the 28 Q's were TX. No 3-banders but had 2-banders with NØTA, NQ2W, W1PID, NK6A, W5ACM, N5GW, WJ4A, WB5BKL and W3KC. Thanks to everyone who dropped by. Hope to hear all of you (plus more) next month.
W3KC
Always fun. This time most contacts were on 40 and a few on 80.
Friday, November 7, 2014
November 2014 ARS Spartan Sprint - Soapbox
W5RCP
Just got back into ham radio after a five year absence. Got bucked off a horse three months ago and broke my leg. Decided to do something constructive besides lay around the house so I studied and up grade to Extra Class. Still not getting around to well so my antenna is very temporary, but still works. Horizontal vee 100X75 up about 15ft. Best I could do while holding onto my cane. Was running a K2 tonight at 5W and was able to connect with K7TQ in Idaho, WV0H in Colorado, K4BAI in Georgia, and W3KC in Maryland. Pretty diverse geography. Thanks guys. Not bad for a chunk of welding wire thrown up into a tree. Looking forward to next month's Sprint...
WIPID
What a strange night! Propagation fell off. I didn't hear anyone on 20 meters, so I went to 40. John K4BAI was calling CQ. We made the exchange and I said he was the only station I could hear. He said he'd worked K7TQ and another station on 20 meters. So I went back and called CQ. Wow... Steve WG0AT answered from CO. He was 579. Never heard another station on 20 meters. So I went back to 40 and worked Don, K3RLL. I called it quits after that. Thanks all and 73.
K3RLL
Nothing heard on 20m and seemed pretty light on 40m but always nice to run into familiar calls from around the country. Nice tonight to work W1PID Jim and WGØAT Steve. Been too long. As always, Spartan Sprint is fun.I'm back in Florida with an attic antenna. 72 to all.
WVØH
The time change really did us in tonight. No 20m activity but 40 seemed okay. I went down to 80 at 0240Z played there for about 10 minutes calling CQ but no takers, then back to 40. Maybe as winter gets closer 80 will be more productive. I managed to work K4BAI, John, right away and then K7TQ, he was there banging away as well as W5ACM and N5GW. Worked Don, NK6A twice but only counted him once, of course. Pretty fun with the MFJ-9296 rig and palm paddles with LGNokSung battery again.
WA5RML
Elecraft KX3 @5 wts to G5RV antenna; Vibroplex Vibrokeyer (new in 1973!) Missed the 1st hour due to other commitments. Thankfully I worked John, K4BAI on 40M; Did not hear anyone else on 40M or 80M for the whole 2nd hour. Seems like this is becoming a 1 hr event.
K5GQ
Finished level 1 class for CWOPS. Now Monday night off. Rig ATS-3 weak audio on 40m, if anyone called that I could not hear. Worked 2 stations on 20m and then nothing. Went to 40 and immediately heard K4BAI very strong. I heard K7TQ but could not pull out of noise. Called WVØH but I guess he could not hear me.
W3KC
All contacts were on 40 meters. Band was noisy here this time, and not many stations were heard.
K7TQ
20 m produced only 5 Qs in 10 minutes and no one had a strong signal. Forty meters was better for a short while with 12 Qs from CA to MD. NK6A had a
strong 40 m signal. I went to 80 m at 0300 after a long dry spell and
N7LT in MT caught me for my only 80 m Q. Thanks to all and see you next
month.
K6CSL
N5GW in MS was the only station I heard on 20m. TNX to K7TQ up in ID for
the QSO on 40m.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters, an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 m, and near bottom-loaded, ground mounted vertical for 80 m. Conditions weren't that great here in Albany and/or participation was way down. Six QSOs - 1 on 20, 4 on 40, and 1 on 80. Almost had another on 40 but QSB got the best of that one. Two bander with K4BAI. W7OM had a nice sig from WA on 20. Hoping for better conditions and/or a lot more activity next month. Thanks for the opportunity.
N5GW
KX3 with internal batteries and ATU to CFZ. I didn't hear many QRPers tonight. Initial operation was on 20M to try and pick up some of the west coast ops before the band closed. There I found NK6A, K7TQ, N7LT and was finally able to drag K6CSL out of the noise. 40M was fair with a bit of QRN. Only got K4BAI and W5ACM on 80M. Maybe there will be more participation next month.
K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W, TH6DXX, zepp, dipole, inverted vee. 20M was very long. Only two QSOs on 20: K7TQ and NK6A. No one else heard on that band. 40M was also a bit long. No QSOs in the fourth call area and didn't hear N5GW in MS either. 18 QSOs. NK6A was very loud from CA on 40M. 80M: 4 QSOs from NY, TX and MS. 80M would be good for more QSOs if more sprinters would go there for the last part of each sprint. Hope for more activity in December. Between now and then (actually I will still be there during the December Spartan Sprint, but the rigs will have been packed for an early flight on Tuesday morning) I will be QRV from Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles as PJ4/K4BAI and during CQWW CW as PJ4A M/2. Hope to work many of you from there.
N5EM
20M very noisy, open to the West at beginning of test. Moved quickly to 40M. Worked only 2 more. There were other weak signals, but unable to copy them. Then there was K4BAI, what a signal, John - again. No one heard on 80M - I will have improved antenna on 80M for December.
W5ACM
The November Spartan Sprint was SOOO difficult! I got one contact on 20M, three on 40M and two on 80M. 20M sounded dead. 40M was difficult with serious fading, and 80M was just plain noisy. It’s always fun, but it was a lot of work. The only station with serious strength from my QTH was K4BAI in GA. The ATS-3a was working well. All daughter boards were up to spec and power out was 3W most of the time. I think it got down to 2.5W during the last 20 minutes of the event. The batteries are not “puffy” and I am hoping for some great ops in December!
Just got back into ham radio after a five year absence. Got bucked off a horse three months ago and broke my leg. Decided to do something constructive besides lay around the house so I studied and up grade to Extra Class. Still not getting around to well so my antenna is very temporary, but still works. Horizontal vee 100X75 up about 15ft. Best I could do while holding onto my cane. Was running a K2 tonight at 5W and was able to connect with K7TQ in Idaho, WV0H in Colorado, K4BAI in Georgia, and W3KC in Maryland. Pretty diverse geography. Thanks guys. Not bad for a chunk of welding wire thrown up into a tree. Looking forward to next month's Sprint...
WIPID
What a strange night! Propagation fell off. I didn't hear anyone on 20 meters, so I went to 40. John K4BAI was calling CQ. We made the exchange and I said he was the only station I could hear. He said he'd worked K7TQ and another station on 20 meters. So I went back and called CQ. Wow... Steve WG0AT answered from CO. He was 579. Never heard another station on 20 meters. So I went back to 40 and worked Don, K3RLL. I called it quits after that. Thanks all and 73.
K3RLL
Nothing heard on 20m and seemed pretty light on 40m but always nice to run into familiar calls from around the country. Nice tonight to work W1PID Jim and WGØAT Steve. Been too long. As always, Spartan Sprint is fun.I'm back in Florida with an attic antenna. 72 to all.
WVØH
The time change really did us in tonight. No 20m activity but 40 seemed okay. I went down to 80 at 0240Z played there for about 10 minutes calling CQ but no takers, then back to 40. Maybe as winter gets closer 80 will be more productive. I managed to work K4BAI, John, right away and then K7TQ, he was there banging away as well as W5ACM and N5GW. Worked Don, NK6A twice but only counted him once, of course. Pretty fun with the MFJ-9296 rig and palm paddles with LGNokSung battery again.
WA5RML
Elecraft KX3 @5 wts to G5RV antenna; Vibroplex Vibrokeyer (new in 1973!) Missed the 1st hour due to other commitments. Thankfully I worked John, K4BAI on 40M; Did not hear anyone else on 40M or 80M for the whole 2nd hour. Seems like this is becoming a 1 hr event.
K5GQ
Finished level 1 class for CWOPS. Now Monday night off. Rig ATS-3 weak audio on 40m, if anyone called that I could not hear. Worked 2 stations on 20m and then nothing. Went to 40 and immediately heard K4BAI very strong. I heard K7TQ but could not pull out of noise. Called WVØH but I guess he could not hear me.
W3KC
All contacts were on 40 meters. Band was noisy here this time, and not many stations were heard.
K7TQ
20 m produced only 5 Qs in 10 minutes and no one had a strong signal. Forty meters was better for a short while with 12 Qs from CA to MD. NK6A had a
strong 40 m signal. I went to 80 m at 0300 after a long dry spell and
N7LT in MT caught me for my only 80 m Q. Thanks to all and see you next
month.
K6CSL
N5GW in MS was the only station I heard on 20m. TNX to K7TQ up in ID for
the QSO on 40m.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters, an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 m, and near bottom-loaded, ground mounted vertical for 80 m. Conditions weren't that great here in Albany and/or participation was way down. Six QSOs - 1 on 20, 4 on 40, and 1 on 80. Almost had another on 40 but QSB got the best of that one. Two bander with K4BAI. W7OM had a nice sig from WA on 20. Hoping for better conditions and/or a lot more activity next month. Thanks for the opportunity.
N5GW
KX3 with internal batteries and ATU to CFZ. I didn't hear many QRPers tonight. Initial operation was on 20M to try and pick up some of the west coast ops before the band closed. There I found NK6A, K7TQ, N7LT and was finally able to drag K6CSL out of the noise. 40M was fair with a bit of QRN. Only got K4BAI and W5ACM on 80M. Maybe there will be more participation next month.
K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W, TH6DXX, zepp, dipole, inverted vee. 20M was very long. Only two QSOs on 20: K7TQ and NK6A. No one else heard on that band. 40M was also a bit long. No QSOs in the fourth call area and didn't hear N5GW in MS either. 18 QSOs. NK6A was very loud from CA on 40M. 80M: 4 QSOs from NY, TX and MS. 80M would be good for more QSOs if more sprinters would go there for the last part of each sprint. Hope for more activity in December. Between now and then (actually I will still be there during the December Spartan Sprint, but the rigs will have been packed for an early flight on Tuesday morning) I will be QRV from Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles as PJ4/K4BAI and during CQWW CW as PJ4A M/2. Hope to work many of you from there.
N5EM
20M very noisy, open to the West at beginning of test. Moved quickly to 40M. Worked only 2 more. There were other weak signals, but unable to copy them. Then there was K4BAI, what a signal, John - again. No one heard on 80M - I will have improved antenna on 80M for December.
W5ACM
The November Spartan Sprint was SOOO difficult! I got one contact on 20M, three on 40M and two on 80M. 20M sounded dead. 40M was difficult with serious fading, and 80M was just plain noisy. It’s always fun, but it was a lot of work. The only station with serious strength from my QTH was K4BAI in GA. The ATS-3a was working well. All daughter boards were up to spec and power out was 3W most of the time. I think it got down to 2.5W during the last 20 minutes of the event. The batteries are not “puffy” and I am hoping for some great ops in December!
Friday, October 10, 2014
October 2014 ARS Spartan Sprint - Soapbox
NF1R
My first Spartan Sprint entry. Decided to follow the rules to the letter, if not completely embracing the "Spartan" spirit. I managed to keep the equipment weight under 1 lb, making the first QSOs on the Elecraft KX1 @4W that I just purchased from Cap, W0CCA. With a pico paddle, a small model aircraft LiPo battery, and Sony earbud headphones, the total station weight was 0.84 lbs. The big advantage, though, was using the monoband Yagi antennas at W6YX, the Stanford club station. On 20M, I used a 6-element Yagi at 60'. On 40M, I used our 4-element Yagi also at about 60'. For the few QSOs on 80M, I used an inverted vee at 50', which has an extremely favorable slope to the US. If you worked W1AW/6 during the Cal QSO Party, these were the antennas putting out the big signals. I had to deal with a shack maintenance issue when I arrived, and didn't start working stations around 0123. I continued until 0251 before stations seemed to run out on 40 and 80, and I had to go home to finish the next day's lecture slides. This was an excellent dry run for my upcoming SOTA expedition with NK6A. Hope to hear you again in future contests and during SOTA activations.
KDØUKC
7 contacts ties my all-time record for one hour of my Novice-level CW. Radio was the HB-1A with a homebrew paddle and old Sony headphones. The homebrew paddle is much lighter than the J-38 that it replaced, but I used 10 AAs instead of 8 since they were a bit flat, so the weight was about the same. Thanks to everyone for slowing down and offering many repeats. I had 3 busted contacts, so maybe next month I can break into the double digits.
W5ACM
The October Spartan Sprint seemed to be lightly attended. I got six contacts on 20M, and four on 40M. Conditions were reasonable on both bands. Although I listened on 80M, the noise level was covering most of the discernable signals and I was down to the last 15 minutes of the event – not worth it for possibly one QSO. I had to do some repair on the 40M daughter board this month. I had noticed that the ATS-3A was not quite up to par on 40M since the recent repair job on the receiver, but just saw the broken wire on one toroid when I was getting ready to move from 20M to 40M. Fortunately it only took about 15 minutes to remount and re-solder the toroid. Hoping for more participants next month!
K3RLL
Activity seemed to start out slowly and signals sounded weaker tonight particularly on 20 m but skip was fairly good. Big signal into rural PA tonight was NQ2W who is always strong whether I’m operating from PA or FL. Thanks for the contacts. The Spartan Sprint is always fun.
K7TQ
October is the last month that the Spartan Sprint starts before sunset, so I went into the forest east of Moscow, ID for this month's contest. A K2, 7 AHr gel cell, a 31 foot long Jacklite pole supporting a SOTAbeams Band Hopper 20 and 40 m inverted V, and a netbook running N1MM was the station. For creature comfort I also took along a roll up table and a lawn chair. I started on 20 m as the sun was setting behind pine trees. Twenty was good for about 1/2 an hour with 14 Qs from coast to coast. That was also about the latest that I had enough daylight left to see to change bands. To change bands, you have to lower the Band Hopper and reset the shorting clips for 40 m which didn't take too long. I spent the rest of the contest on 40 with 12 Qs again from coast to coast. Around 0240Z the moon came out from behind the trees and made for a nice view without the headlamp. Three folks, K4BAI, N5GW, and NK6A, were able to find me on both bands. Thanks to all who stopped by for a QSO.
NØTA
Slow evening. 16 Qs on 20m, 3 on 40m. Quit at 0230z. MTR, BLT, doublet, Palm key, GenLog.
WVØH
What fun it was again. I netted 11 QSOs on 20m and then 8 Qs on 40. Tried the homebrew 3S1P cell phone lithium battery, the LG-Nok-sung. 1006mAh measured and lasted the whole 2 hours. Tried out the new rig the MFJ-9200, it worked well considering. Worked a nice run of people on 20 and then went long. Hopped down to 40 and stayed there until 0230Z. I then went to 80 but nobody was there so went back to 40. Here are the stats from the RBN: 20m yielded 26 spots, Avg SNR = 11.73dB and std dev of 8.57dB; 40m yielded 45 spots, Avg SNR = 15.38dB with a std dev of 5.96dB. I just manually crunched the numbers. My total was 19 QSOs With a weight of 1.1314 pounds. Thanks again for doing this.
AB5SS
All contacts on 20m and 40m. I made fewer contacts than my last sprint, but at least I got my station weight down this time. Looking forward to the next one.
AE7CG
Thanks for 20M contacts with: K4BAI, N5GW, WA8ZBT, WB5BKL, KDØUKC, and NF1R. Regards to all from Arizona.
K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W, TH6DXX, dipole, zepp, inverted vee. 20M was quite long at the start with all six QSOs in the W6 and W7 areas plus CO, but their signals were strong. 40M was a bit noisy, but 19 QSOs were made as far away as CA and NJ (with a lot in TX) and as close as NC and MS. 80M was quite good, but there was almost no activity there. Thanks to K2YGM and N5GW for the two QSOs on 80. Activity was way down, maybe because of conditions. But, no matter what the conditions, if we hang in there and keep trying QRP to QRP QSOs can be obtained. Hope for more participants next month.
N5GW
KX3 at 3W with internal ATU, external balun and NiMH batteries to CFZ. 20 and 40 were both in good shape, but 80 was very QRN at this QTH. Only worked K4BAI and WA8ZBT on 80. Next month 20 may close early as CDST ends, and days will also be shorter. So I may put up a better antenna for 80.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to various delta loops and wire antennas. All QSOs were on 20 and 40M - nada on 80M. Conditions poor here. Best signals: 20M - W7OM, 40M - K4BAI, though N5GW was almost as good with 3W. Only 10 states worked and no QSOs in the last half-hour.Anyway, had fun.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters, an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 m, and near bottom-loaded, ground mounted vertical for 80 m. Seemed like activity was down. Pretty even split between 20 and 40 m contacts. I called on 80 for a while and never heard a response. Two bander with WA8ZBT. Thanks for the contacts and thanks to the organizers. Tell a friend about the Spartan Sprints . . . the more, the merrier!
My first Spartan Sprint entry. Decided to follow the rules to the letter, if not completely embracing the "Spartan" spirit. I managed to keep the equipment weight under 1 lb, making the first QSOs on the Elecraft KX1 @4W that I just purchased from Cap, W0CCA. With a pico paddle, a small model aircraft LiPo battery, and Sony earbud headphones, the total station weight was 0.84 lbs. The big advantage, though, was using the monoband Yagi antennas at W6YX, the Stanford club station. On 20M, I used a 6-element Yagi at 60'. On 40M, I used our 4-element Yagi also at about 60'. For the few QSOs on 80M, I used an inverted vee at 50', which has an extremely favorable slope to the US. If you worked W1AW/6 during the Cal QSO Party, these were the antennas putting out the big signals. I had to deal with a shack maintenance issue when I arrived, and didn't start working stations around 0123. I continued until 0251 before stations seemed to run out on 40 and 80, and I had to go home to finish the next day's lecture slides. This was an excellent dry run for my upcoming SOTA expedition with NK6A. Hope to hear you again in future contests and during SOTA activations.
KDØUKC
7 contacts ties my all-time record for one hour of my Novice-level CW. Radio was the HB-1A with a homebrew paddle and old Sony headphones. The homebrew paddle is much lighter than the J-38 that it replaced, but I used 10 AAs instead of 8 since they were a bit flat, so the weight was about the same. Thanks to everyone for slowing down and offering many repeats. I had 3 busted contacts, so maybe next month I can break into the double digits.
W5ACM
The October Spartan Sprint seemed to be lightly attended. I got six contacts on 20M, and four on 40M. Conditions were reasonable on both bands. Although I listened on 80M, the noise level was covering most of the discernable signals and I was down to the last 15 minutes of the event – not worth it for possibly one QSO. I had to do some repair on the 40M daughter board this month. I had noticed that the ATS-3A was not quite up to par on 40M since the recent repair job on the receiver, but just saw the broken wire on one toroid when I was getting ready to move from 20M to 40M. Fortunately it only took about 15 minutes to remount and re-solder the toroid. Hoping for more participants next month!
K3RLL
Activity seemed to start out slowly and signals sounded weaker tonight particularly on 20 m but skip was fairly good. Big signal into rural PA tonight was NQ2W who is always strong whether I’m operating from PA or FL. Thanks for the contacts. The Spartan Sprint is always fun.
K7TQ
October is the last month that the Spartan Sprint starts before sunset, so I went into the forest east of Moscow, ID for this month's contest. A K2, 7 AHr gel cell, a 31 foot long Jacklite pole supporting a SOTAbeams Band Hopper 20 and 40 m inverted V, and a netbook running N1MM was the station. For creature comfort I also took along a roll up table and a lawn chair. I started on 20 m as the sun was setting behind pine trees. Twenty was good for about 1/2 an hour with 14 Qs from coast to coast. That was also about the latest that I had enough daylight left to see to change bands. To change bands, you have to lower the Band Hopper and reset the shorting clips for 40 m which didn't take too long. I spent the rest of the contest on 40 with 12 Qs again from coast to coast. Around 0240Z the moon came out from behind the trees and made for a nice view without the headlamp. Three folks, K4BAI, N5GW, and NK6A, were able to find me on both bands. Thanks to all who stopped by for a QSO.
NØTA
Slow evening. 16 Qs on 20m, 3 on 40m. Quit at 0230z. MTR, BLT, doublet, Palm key, GenLog.
WVØH
What fun it was again. I netted 11 QSOs on 20m and then 8 Qs on 40. Tried the homebrew 3S1P cell phone lithium battery, the LG-Nok-sung. 1006mAh measured and lasted the whole 2 hours. Tried out the new rig the MFJ-9200, it worked well considering. Worked a nice run of people on 20 and then went long. Hopped down to 40 and stayed there until 0230Z. I then went to 80 but nobody was there so went back to 40. Here are the stats from the RBN: 20m yielded 26 spots, Avg SNR = 11.73dB and std dev of 8.57dB; 40m yielded 45 spots, Avg SNR = 15.38dB with a std dev of 5.96dB. I just manually crunched the numbers. My total was 19 QSOs With a weight of 1.1314 pounds. Thanks again for doing this.
AB5SS
All contacts on 20m and 40m. I made fewer contacts than my last sprint, but at least I got my station weight down this time. Looking forward to the next one.
AE7CG
Thanks for 20M contacts with: K4BAI, N5GW, WA8ZBT, WB5BKL, KDØUKC, and NF1R. Regards to all from Arizona.
K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W, TH6DXX, dipole, zepp, inverted vee. 20M was quite long at the start with all six QSOs in the W6 and W7 areas plus CO, but their signals were strong. 40M was a bit noisy, but 19 QSOs were made as far away as CA and NJ (with a lot in TX) and as close as NC and MS. 80M was quite good, but there was almost no activity there. Thanks to K2YGM and N5GW for the two QSOs on 80. Activity was way down, maybe because of conditions. But, no matter what the conditions, if we hang in there and keep trying QRP to QRP QSOs can be obtained. Hope for more participants next month.
N5GW
KX3 at 3W with internal ATU, external balun and NiMH batteries to CFZ. 20 and 40 were both in good shape, but 80 was very QRN at this QTH. Only worked K4BAI and WA8ZBT on 80. Next month 20 may close early as CDST ends, and days will also be shorter. So I may put up a better antenna for 80.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to various delta loops and wire antennas. All QSOs were on 20 and 40M - nada on 80M. Conditions poor here. Best signals: 20M - W7OM, 40M - K4BAI, though N5GW was almost as good with 3W. Only 10 states worked and no QSOs in the last half-hour.Anyway, had fun.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters, an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 m, and near bottom-loaded, ground mounted vertical for 80 m. Seemed like activity was down. Pretty even split between 20 and 40 m contacts. I called on 80 for a while and never heard a response. Two bander with WA8ZBT. Thanks for the contacts and thanks to the organizers. Tell a friend about the Spartan Sprints . . . the more, the merrier!
Friday, September 12, 2014
Soapbox: September 2014 Spartan Sprint
K6CSL
Wow! Twenty was great. I ran the first 4 QSOs. Bands very quiet and nice.
WVØH
Signals were up and down from the Denver area. Mostly QSB but did manage to
squeak out 15 Qs on 20m and 1 on 40m. Very noisy here on 40 though.
K3RLL
Many really strong signals on 20 meters this Labor Day
holiday evening. Biggest signals into rural PA tonight were NQ2W and NK6A.
Thanks for the fun and nice contacts.
KK4TE
I had a much better performance in this month's sprint!I
worked as long as I could before the storms just got too close. I had 19
contacts with 12 different states and 2 different Canadian provinces. My
station still weighs 25 pounds until I get my mobile back. Twenty meters had a
lot of great signals but had QRN and 40 was really tough. Thanks for all
of the calls and
hopefully we will get to see everyone and some new ones next
month!
W5QLF
Fifteen contacts in 10 states. I was trying to top Henry,
W5HNS's numbers from the August Sprint but as usual I couldn’t even come
close. Nice going Henry with 29 Qs last month.
I must have worked K4BAI every time I’ve played on ARS Sprint. He’s
in my log 13 times at a 5 watt level.
Thank you, John for always being there. I actually worked two Texas stations
on my Butternut HF-9V. That antenna
usually doesn’t work well locally.
WB5BKL and WA8ZBT both were kind enough to make contact on 40 and 80 meters
giving me 4 Texas
QSOs in the Spring.
Thanks fellows. A special thanks to Bob, KE7GKM for sticking with me to complete a QSO to Idaho this
evening. Nice work, Bob.
KG3W
Only had 10 contacts tonight. Things dried up on 20 mtrs.
for me about 0238Z. Running single band with my MTR2 at 4 watts to a tuned
dipole at 28 feet. Whiterook paddle , earbuds and 370 mah lipo. Got out to
California this time. Nice signal from NK6A. Last station worked was W1AW/7 in
Arizona at 0238. Thanks for a fun evening everyone. See ya next month.
AE7CG
Thanks to WB5BKL, K4BAI, NK6A, and KØFL for this month's 20M
Sprint QSOs. 72 from Arizona.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and
20 meters and an inverted V at 40 ft for 40 m. 20 meters was the money band
with 15 QSOs. 40 meters was quiet with only 3 QSOs - all from NC. Two bander
with W4VHH. Thanks for the contacts and thanks to the organizers.
K4BAI
Good activity on 20 and 40.
No answers to CQs and no sprinters heard on 80. 40 was noisy, particularly toward the end. QSOs by band:
20M: 35. 40M: 9. 20M was still open
for QSOs with KE7GKM in ID and WA8REI at the end of the Sprint period.
Thanks for all QSOs.
WA5BUC
Twenty died just before start time. Went to 40 for the
night. Band was quiet. Too quiet. No QRM. No QRN. No sigs almost. Tnx to stalwarts
WB5BKL and K4BAI. Wouldn't be a sprint without them in the log. Had a call
from WA5FAT in Alabama to round out the night. He called to get my SKCC
number. Still a fun night. Bring on October! 72 from Houston.
W5ACM
It was a strange event. I got three contacts on 20M, three
on 40M, and only one on 80M. Conditions were not the best and it sounded like
a fair number of usual participants just were not there for the Labor Day
event. Thanks to WB5BKL for 40M and 80M contacts – always a great signal. I
barely got the ATS-3A charged up in time for the event, but it wasn’t
enough of a charge to allow any CQ ops, just calls to others already calling CQ.
Hoping for better conditions and more participants next month! 72 from
Houston, TX.
Friday, August 8, 2014
Soapbox: August 2014 Spartan Sprint
AB9CA
Ran the K2 at 5w to 100' wire. Ended up with 46 contacts. Worked only 19 SPC's. Only one, ON, in Canada. But the pesky Texans were out in force: TX, 9; NC, NY, PA, 4 each; CO, NH, WI, 3 each; CA, ON, TN, VA, 2 each. Q'S by band: 3/18/25 on 80/40/20. SPC's by band: 3/11/18. Only three banders were K9OM and WB5BKL. 10 two banders. I was surprised at how well WI was coming in on 80 near the end. K9OM was something like 20 over. A fun evening for sure. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and see ya'all next month!
W5HNS
29 contacts, 15 states. Seems as though this was a good night for this activity. Was using an LNR end fed 40/20 strung inverted vee style from a Jackite pole. So I was limited to two bands. Eleven of my 15 contacts on 20 meters was done in the first 30 minutes. The last of my 14 contacts on 40 meters was at 0240Z. Huge kudos go out to K2YGM in NY for being super persistent. I asked him for repeats too numerous to count and we finally completed the exchange. This was my last contact on 40 meters. The big sig for me came from NØTA on 20 meters and from K5JHP and WB5BKL on 40 meters. Always nice to have K4BAI in the log as well as W5ACM and WA5BUC. I used to sit side by side with W5ACM and WA5BUC when I was active with the HQRP group out of Houston.
KDØUKC
This was my first Spartan Sprint and one of my first CW contests ever. I'm working hard on my copy and sending so thanks to everyone for QRS and repeats. Radio was an HB-1A with eight NiMH AAs and a J-38 on a small block of wood. A 40 meter dipole is the only antenna I have up right now so all my contacts were made there. Hoping to get better every month!
K3RLL
Trying out a newly “assembled” rig tonight and while 20 meters sounded a little weak, 40 really started coming alive more and more. What a delight! Thanks for the good contacts with new and familiar calls tonight. While I’ll never win one of these QRP contests, it certainly is a pleasure to be able to stop and talk with old friends in the middle of one of our fun Sprints. Many thanks to Richard and his huge staff for sponsoring the A.R.S. events.
W6OGC
6 contacts on 20m using a MFJ 9020 to a dipole. One contact on 80M on an Omni VI+ running 5 watts, same dipole.No telling what all this weighs. The MFJ not so much. The Omni, a lot! I hoped to use the MFJ exclusively but ran out of stations to contact on 20M after 2100 Central. I didn't hear much on the other bands either. Maybe everybody was on at the start and then pooped out fast. It was good to dust off this little MFJ rig and see what it could do, again. Better luck next time.
W3KC
Only had a brief window of time to operate, but it was fun. All contacts were on 40 meters.
NØTA
First timer - Thanks for the Q's. KD1JV Tri-Bander (borrowed from Dale, WC7S), doublet w/BLT, Palm Mini, Gen Log.
KK4TE
OK, I only worked the last four minutes and have never heard of the contest sprint but thats my fault! hihi After I heard K9OM calling CQ SP I had to go look it up! So... 3 contacts, no laughing. Horrible question: Weight? Uhhhh, 25 pounds, I guess. Now that I know this is here the first monday of the month, I will be back!
WVØH
That was way cool. I decided to go out into the park and operate the WVØH 40m Park Portable Doublet with the KX3 and make couple of QSOs. The center was up 30 feet and I tried leaving the ends sag low; about 8 feet for a change. Wow! Was I pleasantly surprised. I started out on 20 and propagation was good. Double hop from CO to PA was wavering quickly and there was fast QSB but patience paid off. Each QSO took a little longer but it was worth the effort. After hanging out on 20 for an hour I switched to 40 meters and the band seemed noisy but workable. Thanks to all the regulars the new calls too. Next time I will remember the bug spray. This event should really be called the Skeeter Hunt. Maybe a name swap.Thanks for another fun Spartan Sprint.
K9OM
A fun contest as it's always interesting to see how well QRP will work... or not work! In my case, I ran a K3 at 5 watts with my base station antennas which consisted of 3 Tribanders, a 1/4-wave 40-meter Vertical, and an 80-meter Inverted Vee.
WA5BUC
This may be my best sprint ever. 20 and 40 were very active and quiet. New and old calls on both bands. Started on 20 for 7 Q's. Then on to 40 for 8. Thanks to all.
K5JHP
Bands were great tonite. 20 was open up to the end. 40 was good except for QRM. pretty good nite over all. C YA next month.
AA5B
This was the first time in a very long time that I've operated the whole 2 hours of the sprint. Had my first 40-mtr QSO at 0143Z, and my last 20-mtr QSO was at 0240Z, so activity on the two bands overlapped quite a bit (although it was very thin on 20 meters after 0140Z). Station: KX3 on 20 meters, K2 on 40 meters, inverted vees on both bands with the apex at about 40 feet.
NQ2W
Ten-Tec Jupiter at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters and an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 m. 15 m yielded one QSO with WB5BKL. 20 m was good for 12 more and 40 m added 10. Bands were better than I expected with an A index of 12. Some sigs were quite loud. Thanks for the contacts and thanks to the organizers.
K4BAI
Good conditions on 40 and 20M. No sprint signals heard on 15 or 80M. Nice to work F/FK8IP/P on 20M. Best DX on 40M was NK6A. Worked on both 20 and 40M: K5JHP, NK6A, W5HNS, WV0H, WA5BUC, K3RLL, W1PID, W4VHH, NQ2W, W5ACM, AA5B, N0TA, N3QE, WB5BKL, K9OM. Thanks for all QSOs.
W1PID
I operated with the KX3 and a Windom OCF. Good participation and lots of activity. I strayed off the QRP frequency when it slowed down on 20 meters and worked Kyrgyzstan and Nicaragua. NK6A in California was strong. Nice to work K7TQ in Idaho. Thanks for all the Qs.
AB1LT
All contacts made on 20M. No one heard on 40M except the ARRL folks parked right on the QRP calling frequency. Still learning the ins-n-outs of my KX1 which seemed a little deaf on 20M. The four 3.2V LiFePo4 batteries I have in it seem to be doing well. They keep the voltage well above 12V so my power is better than 2W with internal batteries.
N5GW
I was up on the TN Cumberland Plateau to escape MS heat for a while, using the KX3 and CFZ. Glad to hear many familiar calls. Q's on 20 and 40, but 80 was QRN. CU all next month.
K9ESE
It has been over 8 years since I have participated in a Spartan Sprint. I cruised around the bands and responded to stations calling CQ SP. 20 meters was the money band until around 0200 and then 40 meters was alive with activity. DX was NM and CA from my Northern VA QTH with 5 watts and an Inverted L wire antenna supported by a tree. It was fun. Back again next month. Thanks for the contest.
W5ACM
It was great to spend some serious time on 20M this month running the ATS-3A with the backyard vertical. I can’t spend much time calling CQ due to the battery capacity, but I did collect a fine batch of 18 total QSOs on 20M and 40M. W5HNS in San Antonio was a surprise catch. The noise level on both bands was delightfully low this month. I even managed a contact with W1AW/Ø in SD on 7029 kHz. I assume he was NOT running QRP though. He was in contest mode, so I would guess his power at something more than FIVE WATTS, perhaps even a KW . . . I still have some issues with the contacts on my homebrew, ultra-thin-plywood key paddle, but it was a really fun event!
AE7CG
here was moderate to heavy QRN on 20M. Thanks to K4BAI, W5HNS, and WB5BKL for this month's Sprint QSOs.
K7TQ
I went to my favorite location on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest east of Moscow, ID and set up a W7EL Field Day Special antenna for 20 m. I've used this antenna many times, but the pieces have set in the garage and basement for a long time. It does take longer to put all
the parts together, but it is worth the extra effort. The rig was a KX1 feed with 8 AA alkali batteries, ear pieces, and a Palm Mini paddle for a total of 0.897 lbs. Not the less than 1/2 lb that others achieve, but much better than my usual 30 lbs. 20 m was still open around the end of the sprint, but most folks had long since moved to 40. I was happy with the 16 Qs that the 2 to 2.5 w the station put out.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to various delta loops and wire antennas. Had 2 QSOs on 15M, 3 on 80M with the rest split between 20M and 40M. Had three-banders with NK6A, K9OM and AB9CA. Best signals in cenTX: 15M - NQ2W, 20M - W4VHH, 40M & 80M - K5JHP. NQ2W and I repeated our apparent pipeline between New York and Texas. Join us on 15M next month! Had fun.
WA4AAK
Six contacts on 20m in 35 minutes of operating. Signal strengths varied wildly here during contacts... 569 one moment, then below the noise the next! Didn't have a chance to weigh my KX3 with balun and battery pack (est. 3 to 4 lbs.), so I'm entering Tubby Class this time.
Ran the K2 at 5w to 100' wire. Ended up with 46 contacts. Worked only 19 SPC's. Only one, ON, in Canada. But the pesky Texans were out in force: TX, 9; NC, NY, PA, 4 each; CO, NH, WI, 3 each; CA, ON, TN, VA, 2 each. Q'S by band: 3/18/25 on 80/40/20. SPC's by band: 3/11/18. Only three banders were K9OM and WB5BKL. 10 two banders. I was surprised at how well WI was coming in on 80 near the end. K9OM was something like 20 over. A fun evening for sure. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and see ya'all next month!
W5HNS
29 contacts, 15 states. Seems as though this was a good night for this activity. Was using an LNR end fed 40/20 strung inverted vee style from a Jackite pole. So I was limited to two bands. Eleven of my 15 contacts on 20 meters was done in the first 30 minutes. The last of my 14 contacts on 40 meters was at 0240Z. Huge kudos go out to K2YGM in NY for being super persistent. I asked him for repeats too numerous to count and we finally completed the exchange. This was my last contact on 40 meters. The big sig for me came from NØTA on 20 meters and from K5JHP and WB5BKL on 40 meters. Always nice to have K4BAI in the log as well as W5ACM and WA5BUC. I used to sit side by side with W5ACM and WA5BUC when I was active with the HQRP group out of Houston.
KDØUKC
This was my first Spartan Sprint and one of my first CW contests ever. I'm working hard on my copy and sending so thanks to everyone for QRS and repeats. Radio was an HB-1A with eight NiMH AAs and a J-38 on a small block of wood. A 40 meter dipole is the only antenna I have up right now so all my contacts were made there. Hoping to get better every month!
K3RLL
Trying out a newly “assembled” rig tonight and while 20 meters sounded a little weak, 40 really started coming alive more and more. What a delight! Thanks for the good contacts with new and familiar calls tonight. While I’ll never win one of these QRP contests, it certainly is a pleasure to be able to stop and talk with old friends in the middle of one of our fun Sprints. Many thanks to Richard and his huge staff for sponsoring the A.R.S. events.
W6OGC
6 contacts on 20m using a MFJ 9020 to a dipole. One contact on 80M on an Omni VI+ running 5 watts, same dipole.No telling what all this weighs. The MFJ not so much. The Omni, a lot! I hoped to use the MFJ exclusively but ran out of stations to contact on 20M after 2100 Central. I didn't hear much on the other bands either. Maybe everybody was on at the start and then pooped out fast. It was good to dust off this little MFJ rig and see what it could do, again. Better luck next time.
W3KC
Only had a brief window of time to operate, but it was fun. All contacts were on 40 meters.
NØTA
First timer - Thanks for the Q's. KD1JV Tri-Bander (borrowed from Dale, WC7S), doublet w/BLT, Palm Mini, Gen Log.
KK4TE
OK, I only worked the last four minutes and have never heard of the contest sprint but thats my fault! hihi After I heard K9OM calling CQ SP I had to go look it up! So... 3 contacts, no laughing. Horrible question: Weight? Uhhhh, 25 pounds, I guess. Now that I know this is here the first monday of the month, I will be back!
WVØH
That was way cool. I decided to go out into the park and operate the WVØH 40m Park Portable Doublet with the KX3 and make couple of QSOs. The center was up 30 feet and I tried leaving the ends sag low; about 8 feet for a change. Wow! Was I pleasantly surprised. I started out on 20 and propagation was good. Double hop from CO to PA was wavering quickly and there was fast QSB but patience paid off. Each QSO took a little longer but it was worth the effort. After hanging out on 20 for an hour I switched to 40 meters and the band seemed noisy but workable. Thanks to all the regulars the new calls too. Next time I will remember the bug spray. This event should really be called the Skeeter Hunt. Maybe a name swap.Thanks for another fun Spartan Sprint.
K9OM
A fun contest as it's always interesting to see how well QRP will work... or not work! In my case, I ran a K3 at 5 watts with my base station antennas which consisted of 3 Tribanders, a 1/4-wave 40-meter Vertical, and an 80-meter Inverted Vee.
WA5BUC
This may be my best sprint ever. 20 and 40 were very active and quiet. New and old calls on both bands. Started on 20 for 7 Q's. Then on to 40 for 8. Thanks to all.
K5JHP
Bands were great tonite. 20 was open up to the end. 40 was good except for QRM. pretty good nite over all. C YA next month.
AA5B
This was the first time in a very long time that I've operated the whole 2 hours of the sprint. Had my first 40-mtr QSO at 0143Z, and my last 20-mtr QSO was at 0240Z, so activity on the two bands overlapped quite a bit (although it was very thin on 20 meters after 0140Z). Station: KX3 on 20 meters, K2 on 40 meters, inverted vees on both bands with the apex at about 40 feet.
NQ2W
Ten-Tec Jupiter at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters and an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 m. 15 m yielded one QSO with WB5BKL. 20 m was good for 12 more and 40 m added 10. Bands were better than I expected with an A index of 12. Some sigs were quite loud. Thanks for the contacts and thanks to the organizers.
K4BAI
Good conditions on 40 and 20M. No sprint signals heard on 15 or 80M. Nice to work F/FK8IP/P on 20M. Best DX on 40M was NK6A. Worked on both 20 and 40M: K5JHP, NK6A, W5HNS, WV0H, WA5BUC, K3RLL, W1PID, W4VHH, NQ2W, W5ACM, AA5B, N0TA, N3QE, WB5BKL, K9OM. Thanks for all QSOs.
W1PID
I operated with the KX3 and a Windom OCF. Good participation and lots of activity. I strayed off the QRP frequency when it slowed down on 20 meters and worked Kyrgyzstan and Nicaragua. NK6A in California was strong. Nice to work K7TQ in Idaho. Thanks for all the Qs.
AB1LT
All contacts made on 20M. No one heard on 40M except the ARRL folks parked right on the QRP calling frequency. Still learning the ins-n-outs of my KX1 which seemed a little deaf on 20M. The four 3.2V LiFePo4 batteries I have in it seem to be doing well. They keep the voltage well above 12V so my power is better than 2W with internal batteries.
N5GW
I was up on the TN Cumberland Plateau to escape MS heat for a while, using the KX3 and CFZ. Glad to hear many familiar calls. Q's on 20 and 40, but 80 was QRN. CU all next month.
K9ESE
It has been over 8 years since I have participated in a Spartan Sprint. I cruised around the bands and responded to stations calling CQ SP. 20 meters was the money band until around 0200 and then 40 meters was alive with activity. DX was NM and CA from my Northern VA QTH with 5 watts and an Inverted L wire antenna supported by a tree. It was fun. Back again next month. Thanks for the contest.
W5ACM
It was great to spend some serious time on 20M this month running the ATS-3A with the backyard vertical. I can’t spend much time calling CQ due to the battery capacity, but I did collect a fine batch of 18 total QSOs on 20M and 40M. W5HNS in San Antonio was a surprise catch. The noise level on both bands was delightfully low this month. I even managed a contact with W1AW/Ø in SD on 7029 kHz. I assume he was NOT running QRP though. He was in contest mode, so I would guess his power at something more than FIVE WATTS, perhaps even a KW . . . I still have some issues with the contacts on my homebrew, ultra-thin-plywood key paddle, but it was a really fun event!
AE7CG
here was moderate to heavy QRN on 20M. Thanks to K4BAI, W5HNS, and WB5BKL for this month's Sprint QSOs.
K7TQ
I went to my favorite location on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest east of Moscow, ID and set up a W7EL Field Day Special antenna for 20 m. I've used this antenna many times, but the pieces have set in the garage and basement for a long time. It does take longer to put all
the parts together, but it is worth the extra effort. The rig was a KX1 feed with 8 AA alkali batteries, ear pieces, and a Palm Mini paddle for a total of 0.897 lbs. Not the less than 1/2 lb that others achieve, but much better than my usual 30 lbs. 20 m was still open around the end of the sprint, but most folks had long since moved to 40. I was happy with the 16 Qs that the 2 to 2.5 w the station put out.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to various delta loops and wire antennas. Had 2 QSOs on 15M, 3 on 80M with the rest split between 20M and 40M. Had three-banders with NK6A, K9OM and AB9CA. Best signals in cenTX: 15M - NQ2W, 20M - W4VHH, 40M & 80M - K5JHP. NQ2W and I repeated our apparent pipeline between New York and Texas. Join us on 15M next month! Had fun.
WA4AAK
Six contacts on 20m in 35 minutes of operating. Signal strengths varied wildly here during contacts... 569 one moment, then below the noise the next! Didn't have a chance to weigh my KX3 with balun and battery pack (est. 3 to 4 lbs.), so I'm entering Tubby Class this time.
Friday, July 11, 2014
Soapbox: July 2014 Spartan Sprint
KD5KC
WOW - what a blast!!! THANK YOU everyone for the contacts! Due to home remodeling, I currently can't operate from home. So I decided to take my little radio out portable. I climbed a near-by SOTA summit, and played Spartan Sprint and SOTA at the same time. It was quite a success. I started the hike up at about 1715 local time, the skies were mostly cloudy and the temp was a pleasant 93º F. I hiked up slow and easy, no reason to hurry. Arrived on the summit with 15 minutes to spare. I set up on the west slope of the summit, hoping for a good take-off angle to the Pacific (hoping for some VK action on 15m). I started out on 15m calling CQ. My first contact was at 0103 from NK6A in CA. 15m got me CA, NJ, KS, OR, TX, AZ, TX and AZ for 8 total. With no more takers on 15m, at 0130 I switched to 20m. There I got AZ, TN, CA, TX, OR, CA and TX for 7 total on 20m. With no more takers on 20m, at 0200 I switched to 40m. It was still light out, but 40m got me 4 more with TX, TX, CA and TX in the log. I was disappointed with 40m, and after much more CQing on 40m, I gave up and switched to 80m. If 40m was poor, 80m was a disaster, and I only got 1 local in Texas. The antenna wasn't playing nice, and I had no tuner. The antenna worked at home, but not on the mountain. Well, (bad things) happen. I quickly gave up on 80m and went back to 20m. There I made more contacts as the band had shifted. I worked OR, QC-CAN, TX, TX, CA, CA, and with just 4 minutes to go KX7L in WA got in the log for 7 more on 20m. So 8 + 7 + 4 + 1 + 7 = 27 contacts. This was by far the best Spartan Sprint score I have ever done. 20m was my money band with 14 contacts, 15m with 8 contacts, 40m with 4 contacts, and 80m with just one lonely contact. I do not want the weight penalty of a tuner at the radio, so I need to work on the 80 antenna or just not use 80m portable again. It was a cool 84º F with a nice cool desert breeze when I started down. The
hike to the car was only 45 minutes, and a 10 minute drive to home. Thanks again to all the contacts. Looking forward to next month, work schedule permitting.
K7TQ
I operated from the forest east of Moscow, ID using a K2, 7 AHr gel cell, headphones, and a G4ZPY paddle. 20 meters was in good shape so I stayed there the entire time. The antenna was a SOTA Beams Band Hopper II. As is usually the case, the first QSO was with Jim, W1PID. Contacts ranged from nearby OR to distant FL. It was a pleasant evening sitting in the shade of the pine trees and looking out over the forest. The non-radio highlight was a Goshawk flying through the tree canopy.
AB5SS
This was my first Spartan Sprint and a chance to try QRP with my new KX3. I started out on 15m and made 2 contacts before the band faded out. 20m was by far the best band for me and I had little trouble making contacts with only 5W. Next time, I might have to drop down to 3W and give that a try. Switched to 40m for the last 15 minutes of the contest and made one contact. I had fun working everyone and look forward to doing this again and getting the weight down on my station.
N7UN
Horrible QRN (S7-S8) on 20m. Surprised and it was fun that 15m was open a bit. I need to do more of these sprints!
W9JFK
This was my first Spartan Sprint ever - or in a very long time. I may have done a few 10 years or so ago . . . I can't recall for sure. Rig was a KX3 with internal batteries, tuner and integrated keyer. Antenna was a 135' long inverted-L favoring the east. The QSO's seemed very challenging to get. With so many stations out west and me in Pennsylvania, I may need to go in the field and put up west favoring antenna next month. I need to take the KX3 in the field to initiate it in it's proper use!
K8CN
I can't recall if I'd ever participated in a Spartan Sprint before. I enjoyed the chase and it helps me appreciate what I sound like to DX stations in the big contests. All contacts were made on 20 meters at 1 Watt transmit power, and I did check 40 and 15 meters, but to no avail. Operation here was cut short at 0130Z by nasty lightning storms, so I disconnected everything and didn't come back to the rig before 0300Z. I need to go on a (radio) diet - when my linear regulated power supply weighs more than all the rest of the gear combined, it's time to look into some small batteries. I suppose there's incentive to dig out my NorCal-40 rig and my homebrew 20 meter CW rig - together they weigh less than a pound, I suspect. Hope to put in a full effort next month!
N1DN
There was just a little time to operate tonight between thunderstorms. I used my Yaesu FT-817 at 0.5 watts to a ladder line fed dipole, and made 4 contacts pretty quickly. This included new 1,000 MPW contacts with K7TQ in Idaho and WVØH in Colorado. Thanks to all for a great time.
W7PUA
I've been away from this for a while. It was good to get back and work some stations on 40 and 20. I tried 15, but did not find anyone - maybe my timing was poor. I'm experimenting with a home-built DC-DC converter to power a K-1. This used an LM2586 to supply 13 Volts. The input range went down to 3.5 Volts, so I operated at 2 W RF power using 4 Sanyo Eneloop AA batteries. The DC-DC converter weighs 2.4 oz, which seems reasonable. The plan is to take this all backpacking next month.
W7QQ
My first Spartan Sprint and first CW contest. Pretty fun!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 20M delta loop or a 40M dipole. My thanks to WA8ZBT, K5JHP, W5ACM, KG3W and K6LEN for QSOs in the final 10 minutes of the sprint. We had supper guests who arrived 3 hours late (it was not their fault). I did not get to the rig until 0250Z. Too bad I
can't maintain that QSO rate for the entire sprint! Oh well, had fun anyway. . .
WVØH
That was a blast! While on holiday in Minnesota I got a chance to see what the Northlanders experience in HF QRP ops. Well, that little bit of latitude further north is considerable! The signals are just a bit weaker, the fades a bit deeper and you really have to work at getting an antenna up proper. I put up my WVØH Park Portable Doublet at 20 feet and left off my coil and cap tuner and just used the MiniBalun in the 4:1 position. It resulted in a 2.8:1 VSWR. My KX3 antenna tuner adjusted for a mostly efficient match. I started out working K5GQ then K7TQ. NQ2W and N5EM joined in. Then of course an old time favorite of yours and mine W1PID from NH came bursting onto the scene. Back and forth, TX then the northeast, TX, Northeast back and forth. W5ACM of course probably running a 1-ounce rig running 30 Qs an hour will no doubt place. Then the usuals, N1DN, AB9CA, and WA8ZBT were strong contenders. 1 watt signals from K8CN, K4JPN, and N1DN were impressive. My sister in law was standing over my shoulder at the time truly impressed by the beep strength as she put it. Nineteen QSOs were had on 20m and none on 40. 40 just seemed dead and noisy, so no joy there. Next month, I will be back home and hopefully won't forget the event. Thanks everybody for a great vacation break from "up north" where beep strength matters, the women are strong and the children are all above average. Keep your stick on the ice.
AB1LT
Tough night for the bands in New England. Only made contacts on 20 meters. Also had to quit early due to t-storm. Still, fun as usual. KX1 on internal batteries (3W at best) to a 63' end fed that's resonant on 40/20/15/10.
W1PID
20 meters was the only active band. Best DX: RX9JX, NK6A. K5GQ worked the hardest to pull me out! Thanks! Operated about a half an hour. K2 OCF dipole. Thanks all.
AB9CA
A good sprint! Ran the K2 at 5w to 100' wire. Got another late start by about 20 min. Started on 20 as it is Staying open later. Logged 22 there, including a couple of EU stations, before moving to 40. Logged 15 there. Finished with the last 10 min on 80 and logged 2 there. QRN was pretty bad, even on 20. Only the loudest were able to get through on 80. WA8ZBT, N5EM, NK6A and NQ2W were two-banders. No three banders. My RBN spots say that 20m was open and long. Quite a few 5w spots from the EU. Thanks to everyone that stopped by and to KI6SN for doing all the work! See everyone next month.
K3RLL
Back in PA for the summer and enjoying the ‘power’ of an outside antenna and no HOA Restrictions up here in the sticks. Hi Hi. Sprint seemed to start slowly and build. Big signals heard tonight included NQ2W & WA8ZBT. Dennis, followed you to 15m, but no go. Thanks for the fun and nice contacts. See you next month.
WB9G
Thanks for the QSOs, and 72.
K5GQ
Having trouble with ATS-3 audio very weak on 20M but OK on 40M. N4BP called me on 20M and had trouble hearing the signal. The audio is very low.
K5JHP
Bands were in reasonable shape. Worked 3 stations on 2 bands and one station on 3 bands. Be back next month. Hope for more stations on the air next month.
KG3W
I had a brand new set up for July's SP. I built the latest Mountain topper radio from Steve; KD1JV. It's a 3 band version for 30,20,and 17 mtrs. So I went single band - 20 meters. It's the size of a deck of cards but weighs less. Key is a whiterook paddle and used a 370 mah lipo. Put up my temporary backyard full wave delta loop for 20 meters and it tunes 1.1 to 1 on cw. So I can now ditch my T1 tuner for the evening. Radio is a real battery miser. Lipo 3s starts out at 12.4 volts and after 2 hours I still had 11.2 volts showing, which is the lipo's sweet spot. Still running 4.6 watts at contest end. LOVE this radio! Weight breakdown: Radio 4.32 oz; Key 1.44 oz; Battery 1.44 oz; Total weight is 7.2 oz or .45 lbs. I made 14 contacts. Best DX was NK6A in CA. Heard a 9A station but he was hit and run. Propagation was nice into Florida. Worked Art, WB4MNK, @ 4w and KG4GVL, GB, @ 1 watt. Thanks again for a FUN evening. Think I'm going to look for a smaller battery. Hi!
WB4MNK
Sure enjoyed using the little KX1, ear buds, ZM-2, Lipo battery and the tiny Dirt Cheap paddle. Fun event and thanks to all I made contact with.
N5GW
I had the KX3 running on internal batteries. The rig's wide range internal ATU works very well on my CFZ antenna. Almost all activity was on 20M. Only heard a couple of stations on 40M which was filled with moderate QRN. After the sprint was half over, I didn't hear many stations, so I suppose most ops had given up. Also my cat was sitting on my logbook, staring me in the face, so I quit.
W5ACM
It was really great to spend some time on 20M this month. The locations I worked from Houston were as far NE as N7UN in NJ and SW to NK6A in CA. I still have a small issue with 40M reception and the contacts on the keyer paddle. Only five QSOs on 40M, but FOUR of the FIVE were in Texas! Lots of activity down here! I will keep working on the paddle contacts. I cleaned them twice during the event, but there were still problems. The two 170 mAh LiPo batteries did quite well, but the power output with a nominal 7.4 VDC is 3 Watts, and once again started dropping just after the first hour. I was probably around 2 Watts toward the end.
K6DGW
QSOs: 13; States/Provinces: 7; Weight: 0.61 lb. Radio: KX1 [40/30/20] with ATU and paddle; Ear buds; 750 mAh Li-Poly battery. Antenna: Alexloop. Location: On our deck, Auburn CA.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters and an inverted V at 40 ft for 40 m. I started out on 15 m and was able to work NK6A. I moved to 20 and was privileged to make 8 QSOs. Then to 40 for 9 more. The QRN on 40 was problematic. Thanks for the repeats. Doubles with NK6A (15 & 20) and WB4MNK and AB9CA (20 & 40). Good to work K3RLL in PA! Thanks for the contacts and thanks to the organizers.
N5EM
20M was not as good as June, but still managed 5 Qs. It seemed activity was down this month, but that might just be conditions here. Thanks to AB9CA for pulling me out on 80M near the end.
WOW - what a blast!!! THANK YOU everyone for the contacts! Due to home remodeling, I currently can't operate from home. So I decided to take my little radio out portable. I climbed a near-by SOTA summit, and played Spartan Sprint and SOTA at the same time. It was quite a success. I started the hike up at about 1715 local time, the skies were mostly cloudy and the temp was a pleasant 93º F. I hiked up slow and easy, no reason to hurry. Arrived on the summit with 15 minutes to spare. I set up on the west slope of the summit, hoping for a good take-off angle to the Pacific (hoping for some VK action on 15m). I started out on 15m calling CQ. My first contact was at 0103 from NK6A in CA. 15m got me CA, NJ, KS, OR, TX, AZ, TX and AZ for 8 total. With no more takers on 15m, at 0130 I switched to 20m. There I got AZ, TN, CA, TX, OR, CA and TX for 7 total on 20m. With no more takers on 20m, at 0200 I switched to 40m. It was still light out, but 40m got me 4 more with TX, TX, CA and TX in the log. I was disappointed with 40m, and after much more CQing on 40m, I gave up and switched to 80m. If 40m was poor, 80m was a disaster, and I only got 1 local in Texas. The antenna wasn't playing nice, and I had no tuner. The antenna worked at home, but not on the mountain. Well, (bad things) happen. I quickly gave up on 80m and went back to 20m. There I made more contacts as the band had shifted. I worked OR, QC-CAN, TX, TX, CA, CA, and with just 4 minutes to go KX7L in WA got in the log for 7 more on 20m. So 8 + 7 + 4 + 1 + 7 = 27 contacts. This was by far the best Spartan Sprint score I have ever done. 20m was my money band with 14 contacts, 15m with 8 contacts, 40m with 4 contacts, and 80m with just one lonely contact. I do not want the weight penalty of a tuner at the radio, so I need to work on the 80 antenna or just not use 80m portable again. It was a cool 84º F with a nice cool desert breeze when I started down. The
hike to the car was only 45 minutes, and a 10 minute drive to home. Thanks again to all the contacts. Looking forward to next month, work schedule permitting.
K7TQ
I operated from the forest east of Moscow, ID using a K2, 7 AHr gel cell, headphones, and a G4ZPY paddle. 20 meters was in good shape so I stayed there the entire time. The antenna was a SOTA Beams Band Hopper II. As is usually the case, the first QSO was with Jim, W1PID. Contacts ranged from nearby OR to distant FL. It was a pleasant evening sitting in the shade of the pine trees and looking out over the forest. The non-radio highlight was a Goshawk flying through the tree canopy.
AB5SS
This was my first Spartan Sprint and a chance to try QRP with my new KX3. I started out on 15m and made 2 contacts before the band faded out. 20m was by far the best band for me and I had little trouble making contacts with only 5W. Next time, I might have to drop down to 3W and give that a try. Switched to 40m for the last 15 minutes of the contest and made one contact. I had fun working everyone and look forward to doing this again and getting the weight down on my station.
N7UN
Horrible QRN (S7-S8) on 20m. Surprised and it was fun that 15m was open a bit. I need to do more of these sprints!
W9JFK
This was my first Spartan Sprint ever - or in a very long time. I may have done a few 10 years or so ago . . . I can't recall for sure. Rig was a KX3 with internal batteries, tuner and integrated keyer. Antenna was a 135' long inverted-L favoring the east. The QSO's seemed very challenging to get. With so many stations out west and me in Pennsylvania, I may need to go in the field and put up west favoring antenna next month. I need to take the KX3 in the field to initiate it in it's proper use!
K8CN
I can't recall if I'd ever participated in a Spartan Sprint before. I enjoyed the chase and it helps me appreciate what I sound like to DX stations in the big contests. All contacts were made on 20 meters at 1 Watt transmit power, and I did check 40 and 15 meters, but to no avail. Operation here was cut short at 0130Z by nasty lightning storms, so I disconnected everything and didn't come back to the rig before 0300Z. I need to go on a (radio) diet - when my linear regulated power supply weighs more than all the rest of the gear combined, it's time to look into some small batteries. I suppose there's incentive to dig out my NorCal-40 rig and my homebrew 20 meter CW rig - together they weigh less than a pound, I suspect. Hope to put in a full effort next month!
N1DN
There was just a little time to operate tonight between thunderstorms. I used my Yaesu FT-817 at 0.5 watts to a ladder line fed dipole, and made 4 contacts pretty quickly. This included new 1,000 MPW contacts with K7TQ in Idaho and WVØH in Colorado. Thanks to all for a great time.
W7PUA
I've been away from this for a while. It was good to get back and work some stations on 40 and 20. I tried 15, but did not find anyone - maybe my timing was poor. I'm experimenting with a home-built DC-DC converter to power a K-1. This used an LM2586 to supply 13 Volts. The input range went down to 3.5 Volts, so I operated at 2 W RF power using 4 Sanyo Eneloop AA batteries. The DC-DC converter weighs 2.4 oz, which seems reasonable. The plan is to take this all backpacking next month.
W7QQ
My first Spartan Sprint and first CW contest. Pretty fun!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 20M delta loop or a 40M dipole. My thanks to WA8ZBT, K5JHP, W5ACM, KG3W and K6LEN for QSOs in the final 10 minutes of the sprint. We had supper guests who arrived 3 hours late (it was not their fault). I did not get to the rig until 0250Z. Too bad I
can't maintain that QSO rate for the entire sprint! Oh well, had fun anyway. . .
WVØH
That was a blast! While on holiday in Minnesota I got a chance to see what the Northlanders experience in HF QRP ops. Well, that little bit of latitude further north is considerable! The signals are just a bit weaker, the fades a bit deeper and you really have to work at getting an antenna up proper. I put up my WVØH Park Portable Doublet at 20 feet and left off my coil and cap tuner and just used the MiniBalun in the 4:1 position. It resulted in a 2.8:1 VSWR. My KX3 antenna tuner adjusted for a mostly efficient match. I started out working K5GQ then K7TQ. NQ2W and N5EM joined in. Then of course an old time favorite of yours and mine W1PID from NH came bursting onto the scene. Back and forth, TX then the northeast, TX, Northeast back and forth. W5ACM of course probably running a 1-ounce rig running 30 Qs an hour will no doubt place. Then the usuals, N1DN, AB9CA, and WA8ZBT were strong contenders. 1 watt signals from K8CN, K4JPN, and N1DN were impressive. My sister in law was standing over my shoulder at the time truly impressed by the beep strength as she put it. Nineteen QSOs were had on 20m and none on 40. 40 just seemed dead and noisy, so no joy there. Next month, I will be back home and hopefully won't forget the event. Thanks everybody for a great vacation break from "up north" where beep strength matters, the women are strong and the children are all above average. Keep your stick on the ice.
AB1LT
Tough night for the bands in New England. Only made contacts on 20 meters. Also had to quit early due to t-storm. Still, fun as usual. KX1 on internal batteries (3W at best) to a 63' end fed that's resonant on 40/20/15/10.
W1PID
20 meters was the only active band. Best DX: RX9JX, NK6A. K5GQ worked the hardest to pull me out! Thanks! Operated about a half an hour. K2 OCF dipole. Thanks all.
AB9CA
A good sprint! Ran the K2 at 5w to 100' wire. Got another late start by about 20 min. Started on 20 as it is Staying open later. Logged 22 there, including a couple of EU stations, before moving to 40. Logged 15 there. Finished with the last 10 min on 80 and logged 2 there. QRN was pretty bad, even on 20. Only the loudest were able to get through on 80. WA8ZBT, N5EM, NK6A and NQ2W were two-banders. No three banders. My RBN spots say that 20m was open and long. Quite a few 5w spots from the EU. Thanks to everyone that stopped by and to KI6SN for doing all the work! See everyone next month.
K3RLL
Back in PA for the summer and enjoying the ‘power’ of an outside antenna and no HOA Restrictions up here in the sticks. Hi Hi. Sprint seemed to start slowly and build. Big signals heard tonight included NQ2W & WA8ZBT. Dennis, followed you to 15m, but no go. Thanks for the fun and nice contacts. See you next month.
WB9G
Thanks for the QSOs, and 72.
K5GQ
Having trouble with ATS-3 audio very weak on 20M but OK on 40M. N4BP called me on 20M and had trouble hearing the signal. The audio is very low.
K5JHP
Bands were in reasonable shape. Worked 3 stations on 2 bands and one station on 3 bands. Be back next month. Hope for more stations on the air next month.
KG3W
I had a brand new set up for July's SP. I built the latest Mountain topper radio from Steve; KD1JV. It's a 3 band version for 30,20,and 17 mtrs. So I went single band - 20 meters. It's the size of a deck of cards but weighs less. Key is a whiterook paddle and used a 370 mah lipo. Put up my temporary backyard full wave delta loop for 20 meters and it tunes 1.1 to 1 on cw. So I can now ditch my T1 tuner for the evening. Radio is a real battery miser. Lipo 3s starts out at 12.4 volts and after 2 hours I still had 11.2 volts showing, which is the lipo's sweet spot. Still running 4.6 watts at contest end. LOVE this radio! Weight breakdown: Radio 4.32 oz; Key 1.44 oz; Battery 1.44 oz; Total weight is 7.2 oz or .45 lbs. I made 14 contacts. Best DX was NK6A in CA. Heard a 9A station but he was hit and run. Propagation was nice into Florida. Worked Art, WB4MNK, @ 4w and KG4GVL, GB, @ 1 watt. Thanks again for a FUN evening. Think I'm going to look for a smaller battery. Hi!
WB4MNK
Sure enjoyed using the little KX1, ear buds, ZM-2, Lipo battery and the tiny Dirt Cheap paddle. Fun event and thanks to all I made contact with.
N5GW
I had the KX3 running on internal batteries. The rig's wide range internal ATU works very well on my CFZ antenna. Almost all activity was on 20M. Only heard a couple of stations on 40M which was filled with moderate QRN. After the sprint was half over, I didn't hear many stations, so I suppose most ops had given up. Also my cat was sitting on my logbook, staring me in the face, so I quit.
W5ACM
It was really great to spend some time on 20M this month. The locations I worked from Houston were as far NE as N7UN in NJ and SW to NK6A in CA. I still have a small issue with 40M reception and the contacts on the keyer paddle. Only five QSOs on 40M, but FOUR of the FIVE were in Texas! Lots of activity down here! I will keep working on the paddle contacts. I cleaned them twice during the event, but there were still problems. The two 170 mAh LiPo batteries did quite well, but the power output with a nominal 7.4 VDC is 3 Watts, and once again started dropping just after the first hour. I was probably around 2 Watts toward the end.
K6DGW
QSOs: 13; States/Provinces: 7; Weight: 0.61 lb. Radio: KX1 [40/30/20] with ATU and paddle; Ear buds; 750 mAh Li-Poly battery. Antenna: Alexloop. Location: On our deck, Auburn CA.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters and an inverted V at 40 ft for 40 m. I started out on 15 m and was able to work NK6A. I moved to 20 and was privileged to make 8 QSOs. Then to 40 for 9 more. The QRN on 40 was problematic. Thanks for the repeats. Doubles with NK6A (15 & 20) and WB4MNK and AB9CA (20 & 40). Good to work K3RLL in PA! Thanks for the contacts and thanks to the organizers.
N5EM
20M was not as good as June, but still managed 5 Qs. It seemed activity was down this month, but that might just be conditions here. Thanks to AB9CA for pulling me out on 80M near the end.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
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Soapbox: June 2014 Spartan Sprint
KG4GVL
Got QRV in the work parking lot. Set up a homebrew end fed half wave antenna, for 20m and managed one contact. Had to get back to work, so I was happy.
N6XG
This was my first entry in about 5 years. I wanted to exercise my KX3 somewhat. The only active band was 20M, only 1 Q on 40M. There is a big opportunity for weight reduction. Thanks to all for the contacts.
KIØII
Haven't been on for the SP in quite a while. Decent band conditions on 20. Was fun!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to 15 and 20M delta loops, a 40M dipole or a 40M EDZepp. 14 states this month - including all four corners of the lower 48. NQ2W was rolling in on 15M but that was it. Had 1 on 15M, 14 on 20M, 8 on 40M and 2 on 80M. This was my first time to work sprinters with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5W. Some new calls too! My thanks to all. Had fun . . .
N5EM
Very good conditions on 20M and 40M. Some very strong signals on 40M.
KG3W
Usual set up. HB1B @ 4 watts; T1 tuner ; 850mah lipo and palm paddle. Only ran about 1 hour. Had 13 contacts. Only had 2 from MD. for the New England area. Worked MO, TX, FL, GA, CA, MS, and Washington State. Worked Don ,K3RLL, in FL. with his Mountain Top radio @ 3 watts. Nice signal ! I should have mine ready to go for the next SP. TINY radio. Talk about soldering small parts! Also very nice work for Gene, N5GW, from Mississippi with his BIG 1 watt. All the best to everyone. Had alot of fun!
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters and an inverted V at 40 ft for 40m. My homebrew paddle reverted back to its old, even though it's only a few months new, self ... perhaps I need to use it more than once a month! I apologize for the rough sending. I started out on 15 m and was able work NIck, WB5BKL, with a strong signal. Moved to 20 for 15 more including one with WB5BKL. Then on to 40 for 7 more. For the most part, signals were FB. Have fun during FD. Hopefully, see you all next month.
K3RLL
K1 to stealth vertical: How nice to see 20 meters stay open so late. Many thanks to those who came back to my steadily diminishing signal tonight as my small battery continued a slow and painful death. Appreciate the contacts with both new and very familiar calls.
K5GQ
ATS-3. 20M: Audio very low hard to hear some stations. N6XG loud.40M: Could not pull out a couple of stations.
9 states.
WA4ZOF
Ran the KD1JV TRI-BANDER. All the weight in the SLA battery. GREAT FUN.
W5ACM
It was really great to spend some time on 20M this month. QSOs on 20 were as close as N5EM in West Houston to W1PID in NH, N6XG and AA6GI in CA and W7OM in WA. I still have a small issue with 40M reception and the contacts on the keyer paddle. I will keep working on the paddle contacts. The two 200 mAh LiPo batteries did quite well, but the power output with a nominal 7.4 VDC is 3 Watts, and started dropping just after the first hour. I was probably around 2 Watts while working W3KC, WA3FAE, NQ2W and WB5BKL on 40M. Congrats to them and their receivers!
WA5BUC
Better results this month. 20 and 40 were productive tonight. Got to put new stations in the log along with old friends - always a good thing.
AB9CA
Where did everyone go? I was a few min late getting started but 20 seemed fairly active, 10 Q's in about 20 min. It got slow after that so went to 40. No one seemed to be there. Worked 2 contacts in about 25 min. I had only an hour so had to drop out after that. Hope others found more activity than I was able to scare up. Rig was K2 at 5w to 100' wire. Hope to see everyone (and a few more) next month!
W3KC
Enjoyed the Sprint - band conditions were favorable. Got a big grin when QRP'er Rumi LZ2RS answered my CQ SP on 20m. Used the IC703 and a 90 ft doublet at 24 ft.
K6CSL
As usual I started on 10m and found nothing there. I heard a couple if stations on 15m, but couldn't get them. Went to 20m where found KI0II(tnx). Before I left 20 for 40m I tuned down caught W1AW/0 in MO. He was QRO but heard my 5W on the 1st call. I moved to 40m at 02:30Z. 40 was quite noisy from lightning storms up near the CA/OR border. I heard several QRP stations there, but couldn't seem to work them. I settled for a brief QSO with KB6VSE, Steve, in Benbow, CA up in Humboldt County, CA just south of Eureka, CA, near where the evening Thunder Storms were occurring. H e was also QRO but answered my 5 watts on the 1st call. So that's the story from the northern San Joaquin Valley.
N5GW
I was using my 1.5 watt homebrew 20M xcvr, the "Sprite" on an 800 mAh LIPO to a homebrew tuner and CFZ. The rig and tuner are built into a clear plastic cas, with a microkey on the side, containing an N0XAS picokeyer. Looks like a rat nest but works OK. TX is rockbound, but I have three rocks. The DC RX is not the best, as it is not a single signal type, but if the overload from nearby AM stations is not too bad, I can work a few of you QRPers.
K4BAI
Got home and got the antennas and rig hooked up with just eight minutes left in the Sprint. A quick look at 20M showed no signals near 14060. Only one ragchew evident near 7040, but CQs brought six quick QSOs (MD, PA, TX, NY). QSY to 3560 with one minute to go and worked a strong WB5BKL in TX. Sorry to miss many of you, but glad to get on for the end. Looking forward to full participation next month.
Got QRV in the work parking lot. Set up a homebrew end fed half wave antenna, for 20m and managed one contact. Had to get back to work, so I was happy.
N6XG
This was my first entry in about 5 years. I wanted to exercise my KX3 somewhat. The only active band was 20M, only 1 Q on 40M. There is a big opportunity for weight reduction. Thanks to all for the contacts.
KIØII
Haven't been on for the SP in quite a while. Decent band conditions on 20. Was fun!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to 15 and 20M delta loops, a 40M dipole or a 40M EDZepp. 14 states this month - including all four corners of the lower 48. NQ2W was rolling in on 15M but that was it. Had 1 on 15M, 14 on 20M, 8 on 40M and 2 on 80M. This was my first time to work sprinters with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5W. Some new calls too! My thanks to all. Had fun . . .
N5EM
Very good conditions on 20M and 40M. Some very strong signals on 40M.
KG3W
Usual set up. HB1B @ 4 watts; T1 tuner ; 850mah lipo and palm paddle. Only ran about 1 hour. Had 13 contacts. Only had 2 from MD. for the New England area. Worked MO, TX, FL, GA, CA, MS, and Washington State. Worked Don ,K3RLL, in FL. with his Mountain Top radio @ 3 watts. Nice signal ! I should have mine ready to go for the next SP. TINY radio. Talk about soldering small parts! Also very nice work for Gene, N5GW, from Mississippi with his BIG 1 watt. All the best to everyone. Had alot of fun!
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters and an inverted V at 40 ft for 40m. My homebrew paddle reverted back to its old, even though it's only a few months new, self ... perhaps I need to use it more than once a month! I apologize for the rough sending. I started out on 15 m and was able work NIck, WB5BKL, with a strong signal. Moved to 20 for 15 more including one with WB5BKL. Then on to 40 for 7 more. For the most part, signals were FB. Have fun during FD. Hopefully, see you all next month.
K3RLL
K1 to stealth vertical: How nice to see 20 meters stay open so late. Many thanks to those who came back to my steadily diminishing signal tonight as my small battery continued a slow and painful death. Appreciate the contacts with both new and very familiar calls.
K5GQ
ATS-3. 20M: Audio very low hard to hear some stations. N6XG loud.40M: Could not pull out a couple of stations.
9 states.
WA4ZOF
Ran the KD1JV TRI-BANDER. All the weight in the SLA battery. GREAT FUN.
W5ACM
It was really great to spend some time on 20M this month. QSOs on 20 were as close as N5EM in West Houston to W1PID in NH, N6XG and AA6GI in CA and W7OM in WA. I still have a small issue with 40M reception and the contacts on the keyer paddle. I will keep working on the paddle contacts. The two 200 mAh LiPo batteries did quite well, but the power output with a nominal 7.4 VDC is 3 Watts, and started dropping just after the first hour. I was probably around 2 Watts while working W3KC, WA3FAE, NQ2W and WB5BKL on 40M. Congrats to them and their receivers!
WA5BUC
Better results this month. 20 and 40 were productive tonight. Got to put new stations in the log along with old friends - always a good thing.
AB9CA
Where did everyone go? I was a few min late getting started but 20 seemed fairly active, 10 Q's in about 20 min. It got slow after that so went to 40. No one seemed to be there. Worked 2 contacts in about 25 min. I had only an hour so had to drop out after that. Hope others found more activity than I was able to scare up. Rig was K2 at 5w to 100' wire. Hope to see everyone (and a few more) next month!
W3KC
Enjoyed the Sprint - band conditions were favorable. Got a big grin when QRP'er Rumi LZ2RS answered my CQ SP on 20m. Used the IC703 and a 90 ft doublet at 24 ft.
K6CSL
As usual I started on 10m and found nothing there. I heard a couple if stations on 15m, but couldn't get them. Went to 20m where found KI0II(tnx). Before I left 20 for 40m I tuned down caught W1AW/0 in MO. He was QRO but heard my 5W on the 1st call. I moved to 40m at 02:30Z. 40 was quite noisy from lightning storms up near the CA/OR border. I heard several QRP stations there, but couldn't seem to work them. I settled for a brief QSO with KB6VSE, Steve, in Benbow, CA up in Humboldt County, CA just south of Eureka, CA, near where the evening Thunder Storms were occurring. H e was also QRO but answered my 5 watts on the 1st call. So that's the story from the northern San Joaquin Valley.
N5GW
I was using my 1.5 watt homebrew 20M xcvr, the "Sprite" on an 800 mAh LIPO to a homebrew tuner and CFZ. The rig and tuner are built into a clear plastic cas, with a microkey on the side, containing an N0XAS picokeyer. Looks like a rat nest but works OK. TX is rockbound, but I have three rocks. The DC RX is not the best, as it is not a single signal type, but if the overload from nearby AM stations is not too bad, I can work a few of you QRPers.
K4BAI
Got home and got the antennas and rig hooked up with just eight minutes left in the Sprint. A quick look at 20M showed no signals near 14060. Only one ragchew evident near 7040, but CQs brought six quick QSOs (MD, PA, TX, NY). QSY to 3560 with one minute to go and worked a strong WB5BKL in TX. Sorry to miss many of you, but glad to get on for the end. Looking forward to full participation next month.
Friday, May 9, 2014
SOAPBOX: May 2014 Spartan Sprint
K3RLL
Many thanks to those who so diligently dug my 850 mW signal out of the din this evening. It was an evening for experimenting, but then isn’t that what Ham Radio is all about? This was the debut of my little 3 ounce SoftRock Ensemble SDR PCB which won’t quite make a full watt of power output. Just finished building a little 5 watt 40 meter amplifier for it, but my little LiPO won’t power it so “the linear” stayed on the shelf tonight. The thing is, do we count the laptop? Yes, probably so but since my score is so low anyway, it doesn’t make much difference. Most of us all probably have our computer on during Sprints for logging or checking names and tonight was really just a lark anyhow. So thank you for your help tonight trying something new (for me).
K5JHP
K-2, 20 Meter EDZ, SW P/S. Lots of QRM on 40 until 02:00UTC.
W3KC
Fun event with contacts on 20, 40 and 80. Station : IC703, 90 ft doublet.
WA5BUC
Well, I doubled last month's Q-production. 40 was the workhorse band. Tnx to stalwarts: K4BAI, K5JHP, and WB5BKL. It's been a while for N5GW and WA8ZBT to go into the log. And tnx to W3KC for a new entry into the log. I could barely hear W5ACM. Not good enough for a Q. Andy, you need to point your vertical more in my direction. The FT-817 and the new 40 meter EFHWA worked well tonight.
N5GW
I had the KX3 with internal NiMH battery at 3W to the CFZ. The bands seemed to be in bad shape including few and weak signals generally. Especially 20M was disappointing. A check of the solar report revealed a high A index and an R1 blackout. I suppose at least a few ops stayed away because of anticipated poor conditions. However, doubles with WB4MNK, NK6A, NQ2W, W3KC and K4BAI helped. Anyway I was glad to be back after missing last month's outing.
K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W, TH6DXX, dipole, inverted vee. QSOs by band: 20M: 7; 40M: 15; 80M: 5. Good condiitons on three bands, but participating was way down from last month. 20M was open from GA to NY, IL, WI, TX, and FL, best DX was NK6A in CA. 40M had no skip zone and QSOs were made in GA, AL, and FL and out as far as NK6A in CA. 80M was in good shape with easy QSOs with the few who tried the band including W3KC in MD and two TX stations. I heard NK9G on 80M but no QSO. I heard WA5RML on 80 in QSO with WA8ZBT, but Andy was under my noise level. Fortunately, I went back to 40 near the end and worked Andy on that band. Thanks for all QSOs and let's have a big turn out for June's Spartan Sprint.
W5ACM
Thanks to long-distance technical assistance from KD1JV, my ATS3A has been repaired. I feel that I spent the whole event just getting reaquainted with the radio. I still have a small issue with 40M reception and the contacts on the keyer paddle (super-thin spruce plywood with copper contact points). The two 200 mAh LiPo batteries did quite well, but the power output with a nominal 7.4 VDC is 3 Watts. More or bigger batteries would mean more weight. I only had three QSOs on 20M (NK6A, WB4MNK and NK9G) and only two on 80M (WB5BKL and WA8ZBT). The other six contacts were all on 40M - four with Texas stations, but no luck hearing WA5BUC. It was an excellent event with my favorite ATS rig back on the air again!
WB4MNK
Thanks to all for a fun event.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters, an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 m, and a homebrewed, near-bottom loaded, ground mounted vertical for 80 m. My homebrew paddle behaved a little better this month. 20 meters netted 11 QSOs, 40 allowed 7 QSOs, and 80 provided 3. Not a bad way to spend an evening. Two banders with K4BAI, WB4MNK, N5GW, and W3KC. Three banders with WB5BKL and WA8ZBT. The 20-40-80 pipeline from NY to TX was open - 8 contacts with TX sprinters - FB! I hope to hear you all and more next month.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 20M delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M
EDZepp. Only 9 states this time. Tried 15M and though RBN said I was getting out well, nothing heard. Worked NQ2W and K4BAI on 20, 40 and 80M. Made more QSOs in the second hour - how unusual. My thanks to all. Had fun.
Many thanks to those who so diligently dug my 850 mW signal out of the din this evening. It was an evening for experimenting, but then isn’t that what Ham Radio is all about? This was the debut of my little 3 ounce SoftRock Ensemble SDR PCB which won’t quite make a full watt of power output. Just finished building a little 5 watt 40 meter amplifier for it, but my little LiPO won’t power it so “the linear” stayed on the shelf tonight. The thing is, do we count the laptop? Yes, probably so but since my score is so low anyway, it doesn’t make much difference. Most of us all probably have our computer on during Sprints for logging or checking names and tonight was really just a lark anyhow. So thank you for your help tonight trying something new (for me).
K5JHP
K-2, 20 Meter EDZ, SW P/S. Lots of QRM on 40 until 02:00UTC.
W3KC
Fun event with contacts on 20, 40 and 80. Station : IC703, 90 ft doublet.
WA5BUC
Well, I doubled last month's Q-production. 40 was the workhorse band. Tnx to stalwarts: K4BAI, K5JHP, and WB5BKL. It's been a while for N5GW and WA8ZBT to go into the log. And tnx to W3KC for a new entry into the log. I could barely hear W5ACM. Not good enough for a Q. Andy, you need to point your vertical more in my direction. The FT-817 and the new 40 meter EFHWA worked well tonight.
N5GW
I had the KX3 with internal NiMH battery at 3W to the CFZ. The bands seemed to be in bad shape including few and weak signals generally. Especially 20M was disappointing. A check of the solar report revealed a high A index and an R1 blackout. I suppose at least a few ops stayed away because of anticipated poor conditions. However, doubles with WB4MNK, NK6A, NQ2W, W3KC and K4BAI helped. Anyway I was glad to be back after missing last month's outing.
K4BAI
FT1000MP, 5W, TH6DXX, dipole, inverted vee. QSOs by band: 20M: 7; 40M: 15; 80M: 5. Good condiitons on three bands, but participating was way down from last month. 20M was open from GA to NY, IL, WI, TX, and FL, best DX was NK6A in CA. 40M had no skip zone and QSOs were made in GA, AL, and FL and out as far as NK6A in CA. 80M was in good shape with easy QSOs with the few who tried the band including W3KC in MD and two TX stations. I heard NK9G on 80M but no QSO. I heard WA5RML on 80 in QSO with WA8ZBT, but Andy was under my noise level. Fortunately, I went back to 40 near the end and worked Andy on that band. Thanks for all QSOs and let's have a big turn out for June's Spartan Sprint.
W5ACM
Thanks to long-distance technical assistance from KD1JV, my ATS3A has been repaired. I feel that I spent the whole event just getting reaquainted with the radio. I still have a small issue with 40M reception and the contacts on the keyer paddle (super-thin spruce plywood with copper contact points). The two 200 mAh LiPo batteries did quite well, but the power output with a nominal 7.4 VDC is 3 Watts. More or bigger batteries would mean more weight. I only had three QSOs on 20M (NK6A, WB4MNK and NK9G) and only two on 80M (WB5BKL and WA8ZBT). The other six contacts were all on 40M - four with Texas stations, but no luck hearing WA5BUC. It was an excellent event with my favorite ATS rig back on the air again!
WB4MNK
Thanks to all for a fun event.
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters, an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 m, and a homebrewed, near-bottom loaded, ground mounted vertical for 80 m. My homebrew paddle behaved a little better this month. 20 meters netted 11 QSOs, 40 allowed 7 QSOs, and 80 provided 3. Not a bad way to spend an evening. Two banders with K4BAI, WB4MNK, N5GW, and W3KC. Three banders with WB5BKL and WA8ZBT. The 20-40-80 pipeline from NY to TX was open - 8 contacts with TX sprinters - FB! I hope to hear you all and more next month.
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 20M delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M
EDZepp. Only 9 states this time. Tried 15M and though RBN said I was getting out well, nothing heard. Worked NQ2W and K4BAI on 20, 40 and 80M. Made more QSOs in the second hour - how unusual. My thanks to all. Had fun.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
SOAPBOX: April 2014 Spartan Sprint
KD5KC
WOW!!! What a fantastic sprint!!! Started out on 15m with my Hex-Beam. Only got 2 real quick contacts on the band. Quickly switched to 20m, still on the Hex, and got 10 contacts in 33 minutes. Went to the dipole on 40m, and got 6 contacts in 40 minutes. I thought 40m was pretty bad, but on 80m it was worse, with only 4 contacts in so minutes. Heard some old calls, and some new. Looking forward to 5 May. Thanks to everyone for the contacts, you guys are all fantastic!!!
AB1LT
My first time. Very fun. I like how scoring is dependent on station weight. Next time I'm using my Te-Ne-Ke and taking 8oz off my weight. Antenna is a 63' long 4-band (40/20/15/10) half wave end-fed wire with a broadband coupler of my own design. I love switching bands without re-tuning.
K3RLL
Both 20 and 40 sounded good down here in Florida this evening with good signals and little noise for a change. That was one fun hour. Many thanks to those who copied me with my highly compromised antenna (thank you HOA). The Big Signals of the evening, not counting the fellow just down the road in New Smyrna Beach, were NQ2W and AB9CA, both just pounding into Florida.
K5JHP
K1 with good results. T-storms were coming in from the west. Limited time on the air.
W3KC
Great ops with good ears make these Sprints fun events.
About 2/3 of the contacts were made on 40 and the rest on 20. Bands were noisy as storms were moving up the coast.
NBØW
As for my station weight, I don't know for sure: 12 amp power supply, heavy Bencher paddle, Sierra radio - gotta be close to 30 lbs.
KG3W
Best laid plans.... Was ready to do the sprint this evening but a major thunderstorm moved in 15 minutes before the start. Hope the rest of you had a great evening. See you May 5.
AL7FS
Signals were real weak. In the words of one of my serious contester buddies, "Today is not a great day to work HF DX anyway. Bands still recovering from the last Solar Event." That was evident in the weak signals I was barely hearing above the noise. And then...some neighbor switch on their something and my noise went 2-3 S-units above all other QRP signals. I gave up at that point.The good news is that I am back on the air after 2.5 years off. Now I just need to find my keyer again. One contact in the April SP on 21 MHz.
WA4ZOF
Great way to spend an evening. Thanks to all who worked me into their logs. TRI BANDER could only muster 2w tonight due to a almost dead battery. Always amazed at what can be done with QRP and some wire hanging in a tree.
WA5BUC
The April Sprint was interesting here. Put up a new 40 meter EFHWA (at 10 feet and perpendicular to my powerlines). It hears much better. Had 6 Q's, but only 3 in the Spartan Sprint: K5JHP, AB9CA, and WB5BKL. Two Qs were ragchews (Round Rock TX and AZ) and one Q with W1AW/3 (PA). Hope to hear more Sprinters in May.
W1PID
I operated a K2 at 3W for 15 minutes. Best DX was Randy K7TQ in ID. 20 meters only... signals strong. Thanks to all for the Qs.
AB1AV
ATS-3, touch keyer, homebrew Zmatch to 88' doublet up 60'. Got a late start, but 20 meters stayed active into the 2nd hour of the Sprint. Then picked up 6 more on 40m. Both bands had serious QSB, requiring repeats from stations who had been strong to start. Never made it to 80m for my locals... Fun as always, and managed to keep hunting until contest end at 11pm here.
KS4L
Elecraft K3/5w with 44' vertical dipole and 80m inv. V at 45'. Excellent conditions on 20m, with very little QRN, but few stations heard here. 40m was good, but noisy. Nobody heard on 80m. Thanks for the QSOs!
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters and an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 m. My homebrew paddle was acting up again and I had to take a break and adjust it. Sorry for some rough sending, initially. It did get a little better post-adjustment. Pretty decent band conditions - 10 QSOs on 20 and 16 on 40. 40 produced QSOs with SPers from New England to California and states in between. I thought about going to 80 but didn't see much activity there. I stuck it out on 40 to the end. Had lots of two-banders - AB9CA, K7TQ, KF0N, K5JHP, N5EM, WB5BKL, and NB0W. Great fun! Looking forward to next month. Invite a friend to participate!
KFØN
The contest seemed well attended and conditions were fair. It was nice to hear 20 meters open. A rather high A- index indicated increased X-ray activity which did seem to increase absorption somewhat. Signals were noticeably weaker on 40 meters but still readable. Warmer Spring temperatures have abated my line noise somewhat. WA4ZOF had a great 2-watt signal from Alabama. My best DX for the evening was with NK6A and K6XM, both in CA on 40M. Many thanks to all who called in. Where else could you have this much fun with a diminutive little rig and a power source not much bigger than your thumb!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 15M delta loop, a 20M delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M EDZepp. 16 states this time - including AK! Worked NK6A on three of the four bands tried. Only two QSOs on 80M, one from Houston and one from El Paso. Three station were at the 3W level and two were at 50W - but I didn't count those. Best signal of the evening
was K5JHP. More activity than expected considering the basketball final competition. My thanks to all. Had fun.
K7TQ
A good evening here in ID with a nice balance between 20 m and 40 m (15 Qs on 20 and 18 Qs on 40). There were 8 folks that I got on both bands, KFØN, W3KC, KD5KC, NBØW, K5JHP, NK9G, NQ2W, and NK6A. Thanks to all who stopped by.
N5EM
Nice Sprint - conditions seemed good - summer QRN is picking up. Many thanks to those who dug really deep to copy me several times! Looking forward to May.
K6XM
Got home late from work so missed the first hour, but 20 meters was still open to the east coast and I worked several new calls for the first time. Switched to 40 after 20 dried up and worked a few more. Only had three two banders tonight – N7LT, WA8ZBT, and W3KC. There appeared to be a pretty good turn out tonight and conditions were good – especially on 20. Thanks to all.
AB9CA
Another enjoyable evening on the radio. Rig was FT857 at 5w to 100' of wire. 20 was fairly productive with 15 Q's logged there. From NY to CA and from TX to ON. You can tell we are moving into summertime propagation. 40 was the workhorse' with 23 logged there. A good geographic spread there as well. Only one lonely contact on 80. That
band was noisy but not as bad as it has been lately. Hope to see everyone in May's Sprint!
WOW!!! What a fantastic sprint!!! Started out on 15m with my Hex-Beam. Only got 2 real quick contacts on the band. Quickly switched to 20m, still on the Hex, and got 10 contacts in 33 minutes. Went to the dipole on 40m, and got 6 contacts in 40 minutes. I thought 40m was pretty bad, but on 80m it was worse, with only 4 contacts in so minutes. Heard some old calls, and some new. Looking forward to 5 May. Thanks to everyone for the contacts, you guys are all fantastic!!!
AB1LT
My first time. Very fun. I like how scoring is dependent on station weight. Next time I'm using my Te-Ne-Ke and taking 8oz off my weight. Antenna is a 63' long 4-band (40/20/15/10) half wave end-fed wire with a broadband coupler of my own design. I love switching bands without re-tuning.
K3RLL
Both 20 and 40 sounded good down here in Florida this evening with good signals and little noise for a change. That was one fun hour. Many thanks to those who copied me with my highly compromised antenna (thank you HOA). The Big Signals of the evening, not counting the fellow just down the road in New Smyrna Beach, were NQ2W and AB9CA, both just pounding into Florida.
K5JHP
K1 with good results. T-storms were coming in from the west. Limited time on the air.
W3KC
Great ops with good ears make these Sprints fun events.
About 2/3 of the contacts were made on 40 and the rest on 20. Bands were noisy as storms were moving up the coast.
NBØW
As for my station weight, I don't know for sure: 12 amp power supply, heavy Bencher paddle, Sierra radio - gotta be close to 30 lbs.
KG3W
Best laid plans.... Was ready to do the sprint this evening but a major thunderstorm moved in 15 minutes before the start. Hope the rest of you had a great evening. See you May 5.
AL7FS
Signals were real weak. In the words of one of my serious contester buddies, "Today is not a great day to work HF DX anyway. Bands still recovering from the last Solar Event." That was evident in the weak signals I was barely hearing above the noise. And then...some neighbor switch on their something and my noise went 2-3 S-units above all other QRP signals. I gave up at that point.The good news is that I am back on the air after 2.5 years off. Now I just need to find my keyer again. One contact in the April SP on 21 MHz.
WA4ZOF
Great way to spend an evening. Thanks to all who worked me into their logs. TRI BANDER could only muster 2w tonight due to a almost dead battery. Always amazed at what can be done with QRP and some wire hanging in a tree.
WA5BUC
The April Sprint was interesting here. Put up a new 40 meter EFHWA (at 10 feet and perpendicular to my powerlines). It hears much better. Had 6 Q's, but only 3 in the Spartan Sprint: K5JHP, AB9CA, and WB5BKL. Two Qs were ragchews (Round Rock TX and AZ) and one Q with W1AW/3 (PA). Hope to hear more Sprinters in May.
W1PID
I operated a K2 at 3W for 15 minutes. Best DX was Randy K7TQ in ID. 20 meters only... signals strong. Thanks to all for the Qs.
AB1AV
ATS-3, touch keyer, homebrew Zmatch to 88' doublet up 60'. Got a late start, but 20 meters stayed active into the 2nd hour of the Sprint. Then picked up 6 more on 40m. Both bands had serious QSB, requiring repeats from stations who had been strong to start. Never made it to 80m for my locals... Fun as always, and managed to keep hunting until contest end at 11pm here.
KS4L
Elecraft K3/5w with 44' vertical dipole and 80m inv. V at 45'. Excellent conditions on 20m, with very little QRN, but few stations heard here. 40m was good, but noisy. Nobody heard on 80m. Thanks for the QSOs!
NQ2W
K1 at 5 W to a 2-element mini-beam at 25 ft for 10, 15, and 20 meters and an inverted vee at 40 ft for 40 m. My homebrew paddle was acting up again and I had to take a break and adjust it. Sorry for some rough sending, initially. It did get a little better post-adjustment. Pretty decent band conditions - 10 QSOs on 20 and 16 on 40. 40 produced QSOs with SPers from New England to California and states in between. I thought about going to 80 but didn't see much activity there. I stuck it out on 40 to the end. Had lots of two-banders - AB9CA, K7TQ, KF0N, K5JHP, N5EM, WB5BKL, and NB0W. Great fun! Looking forward to next month. Invite a friend to participate!
KFØN
The contest seemed well attended and conditions were fair. It was nice to hear 20 meters open. A rather high A- index indicated increased X-ray activity which did seem to increase absorption somewhat. Signals were noticeably weaker on 40 meters but still readable. Warmer Spring temperatures have abated my line noise somewhat. WA4ZOF had a great 2-watt signal from Alabama. My best DX for the evening was with NK6A and K6XM, both in CA on 40M. Many thanks to all who called in. Where else could you have this much fun with a diminutive little rig and a power source not much bigger than your thumb!
WB5BKL
K3/10 @ 5W to a 15M delta loop, a 20M delta loop, a 40M dipole or a 40M EDZepp. 16 states this time - including AK! Worked NK6A on three of the four bands tried. Only two QSOs on 80M, one from Houston and one from El Paso. Three station were at the 3W level and two were at 50W - but I didn't count those. Best signal of the evening
was K5JHP. More activity than expected considering the basketball final competition. My thanks to all. Had fun.
K7TQ
A good evening here in ID with a nice balance between 20 m and 40 m (15 Qs on 20 and 18 Qs on 40). There were 8 folks that I got on both bands, KFØN, W3KC, KD5KC, NBØW, K5JHP, NK9G, NQ2W, and NK6A. Thanks to all who stopped by.
N5EM
Nice Sprint - conditions seemed good - summer QRN is picking up. Many thanks to those who dug really deep to copy me several times! Looking forward to May.
K6XM
Got home late from work so missed the first hour, but 20 meters was still open to the east coast and I worked several new calls for the first time. Switched to 40 after 20 dried up and worked a few more. Only had three two banders tonight – N7LT, WA8ZBT, and W3KC. There appeared to be a pretty good turn out tonight and conditions were good – especially on 20. Thanks to all.
AB9CA
Another enjoyable evening on the radio. Rig was FT857 at 5w to 100' of wire. 20 was fairly productive with 15 Q's logged there. From NY to CA and from TX to ON. You can tell we are moving into summertime propagation. 40 was the workhorse' with 23 logged there. A good geographic spread there as well. Only one lonely contact on 80. That
band was noisy but not as bad as it has been lately. Hope to see everyone in May's Sprint!
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